


The Good Life

by accelgors



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Dumb Old Men, Eventual Smut Because I Can, Friends to Lovers, Humor, Jack And Lena Have A Father-Daughter Relationship, M/M, More Characters Will Probably Come In Later, Neither Of Them Know How To Do Feelings, Post-Canon, Romantic Comedy, because you can pry that headcanon from my cold dead hands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2020-09-24 04:47:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 36,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20352625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/accelgors/pseuds/accelgors
Summary: Gabriel Reyes has retired from both Overwatch and Talon. Now, it's time for him to re-learn how to be a normal member of society. Oh, and Jack is along for the ride.AKA the fluffy romantic comedy that these two idiots deserve.





	1. December

Gabriel Reyes sat on the couch of the tiny apartment he had bought. Despite how much of a massive burden off his back it was to retire, he still missed Overwatch’s living quarters (and Talon’s, even) sometimes. At least those quarters had decent heating; right now, he was freezing his ass off in the winter chill. He crossed his arms on his chest in an attempt to keep warm (which didn’t work at all). He couldn’t even sleep that well; the chill woke him up hours earlier than he would normally wake up.

Eventually, he decided the cold was too much. He needed to get out of here. Besides, this apartment was depressing as hell. The lighting didn’t even work properly; the overhead light provided only a dim illumination, and his landlord couldn’t get off his ass to get someone to fix it. The money he had built up over his career was starting to run out, though, and this was all he could afford. He already had to move out of the halfway decent apartment he had lived in before.

Not only that, but he hadn’t bothered to decorate at all. The two-room complex contained only a couch, a TV, chairs, and various cooking supplies within the kitchen. If anyone asked, he would say that he didn’t care about that bullshit, but he really did. He just didn’t have much motivation to do anything these days. What had happened to his days of elaborate imagery throughout his living space? Wasn’t he always the one who had teased Jack about how boring his house looked? Ugh, he really was in a rut.

But where could he go? Even though he had trouble admitting it to himself, the way his body looked made him insecure about going out alone. He only did it when he absolutely had to. He didn’t even go out for groceries; instead, he ordered food to his house, which was starting to cost too much money. Maybe that was part of his monetary issue. Now that he was doing something other than murdering people, going out dressed like the grim reaper wasn’t exactly socially acceptable. 

Maybe it’d be best for him to search up what there was to do nearby. He hadn’t done much exploring of his new town. Mostly because that required being outside, and having people see him. Still, he knew he needed to suck it up this time just so he wouldn’t freeze to death. When he unlocked his phone to search, he noticed the date. December 27th. Christmas had come and gone, and he had spent it on his own.

Something about that just felt unacceptable to him. Spending Christmas alone in this asscrack of a building just felt incredibly depressing. When did he start buying into sentimental bullshit? 

But what could he do about it? He sure as hell hadn’t made any new friends, and he doubted any of his former friends had any interest in forgiving him after all of the things he did. Would anyone ever want to speak to him again, or would he just have to be alone forever? 

While he drowned in his own self-pity, his phone started to ring. Probably another telemarketer. How those fuckers managed to find his number when he never even went out was a mystery to them. God damn vultures. When he looked at the screen, though, he saw a number he still recognized even after all of these years:

Jack.

He would certainly never admit to anyone the way his heart jumped in his chest when he saw it. Since Gabriel had stopped his ‘Reaper’ activities, he had apologized to Jack for the ways he directly wronged him, but they hadn’t fully made amends, and he felt too awkward to do it himself. He berated himself frequently for being too much of a coward to just face the man who was once his best friend, but that didn’t exactly help raise his confidence (he recalled an old shrink telling him about his ‘self-destructive mindset’, right before he had told him to fuck off). If Jack was taking the burden off his back, he was all for it. 

He had been so lost in thought that he almost let the phone stop ringing. Wow, great start.

“Hey,” he said. He couldn’t think of anything less awkward than that. Didn’t he used to be smooth or something? 

“Hey.” He heard Jack hesitate as he said, “Wanna hang out? Just get together like the old days?”

He certainly wouldn’t tell Jack the level of happiness he felt hearing that. This was his chance. _ OK. Be cool. _ “Well, if it’s _ so _important to you…” A groan came from the other line. While he was glad to have saved his image, he remembered that he still had to say yes. “Yeah. Sure. When?”

“Could you be at the park at 9? Dress warm.” Jack clearly had a plan in mind. He looked at the clock. 7:55am. Barely an hour to get ready. He didn’t have a car at the moment, so he would have to set aside another 20 minutes to walk there. Damn, he was on a time crunch. 

“You know I hate doing things on short notice,” he whined.

“Cry me a river. If you’re coming, you’re coming at 9.” The words were exasperated, but he didn’t sound particularly aggressive. Just ribbing each other. It felt so natural.

“OK, Dad. Will you catch my Little League game after if I do?” A grin was already forming on his face.

For a moment, he didn’t hear anything, and he worried that he had gotten carried away. Maybe it was a bit too early to be intentionally annoying. However, after a pause, he heard laughing. “God damn it, Gabe.” After he finished laughing, Jack said, “See you soon.” 

With that, he hung up, and Gabriel was overjoyed to have an interaction with Jack that ended amicably for the first time in years. 

_ Don’t screw it up this time, Gabriel. _

\--

He arrived at the park at 8:45, sticking close to the parking lot and waiting for Jack. He always preferred this place in winter, even though he hated the cold. The trees had no leaves and the flowers were all gone, but at least it was quiet. There was about an inch of snow on the ground; many would have found that pretty, but Gabriel just felt like it was penetrating his boots and freezing his feet. Still, the part that mattered most with his current insecurities was that there weren’t any crowds. In fact, there was nobody there at all except for an occasional passerby. With no kids on the playground equipment and nobody fishing on the river, the place felt almost barren. Maybe Jack knew exactly what Gabriel was looking for.

Of course, it wasn’t any warmer outside than it had been inside his crappy apartment. At least Jack’s ‘dress warm’ request meant that he could break out his warmest hoodie, a dark gray one with a skull on fire in the center. It always looked badass. Not only that, but he had his black boots to match. Maybe that was a bit much, but he swore he’d turn into an icicle if he didn’t bundle up as much as he could. He considered wearing the cloak, but realized that he couldn’t wear both the cloak _ and _the mask. That would be a great way to get attacked by a crowd of police officers. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to take the mask off and expose this quaint park to his disfigured face. Unfortunately, in his mind, that meant he let Jack win, because Jack always said the cloak looked ‘stupid’. What did he know?

Right at 8:59 (Jack was always so obsessed with being exactly on time for everything), Jack pulled up in an oddly proportioned van. The back jutted out further than the front, being both unnaturally widened and elongated, as if trying to fit something especially large at all times. Was that even legal?

Jack rolled down his window. “Hey.”

“_T__hat’s _your car?” He knew Jack couldn’t tell how wide his eyes were behind the mask, so he tried to emphasize the surprise in his voice. Should he be making fun of him for this?

“What? No. It’s Lena’s.” He pointed behind him. As Gabriel took a closer look at the inside of the car, he saw there were two other people in it: Lena Oxton and Winston (did he have a last name?). The car had to be modified just to adequately seat the damn monkey. He should’ve known.

“I thought this was just us,” Gabriel said, trying not to pout.

Jack pushed his head closer to Gabriel. “It was, but when I told her what I was doing, she asked to come,” he said in a low voice. “You try saying no to her.”

“OK, but why is _ he _here?” Gabriel could never stand the monkey.

As Jack opened his mouth to respond, Lena pulled herself up to where the two of them were talking. “What’re you guys talking about?”

“Just boring old man stuff.” Jack shooed her away. “She wanted him to come along.” Jack really would let this girl get away with anything, wouldn’t he? “You coming or not?” As much as Jack tried to hide it, Gabriel knew him well enough to spot a bit of disappointment in his features. “You don’t have to.”

Gabriel gave an exaggerated sigh. “Fine.” He was going to make up with Jack and have a nice time with him no matter what. Lena and the monkey were just inconvenient additions, and were not going to ruin this. He refused to let them. The prospect of spending more time alone crept upon him like the dread he used to try to set into others. Gabriel walked around to the passenger side and opened the door. He sure as hell was not sitting in the back with either of them. Luckily, Jack seemed aware of that, and had saved him a seat in the front. “Where are we going, anyway?”

“Up there.” Jack pointed towards a mountain some ways in the distance. “We haven’t skied in years.”

So that was why Jack wanted him to dress warm. The two of them had loved skiing together when they were younger, but as the years went by, they just didn’t have time for it anymore. Between Gabriel’s missions and Jack’s administrative duties, Overwatch didn’t leave them basically any free time. Now that he had his free time back, this could be a good place to start. Maybe Jack was better at planning these activities than he had given him credit for. 

“You’re on, Morrison.” Gabriel grinned. Of course, that left out the fact that part of what Gabriel enjoyed about skiing with Jack was how bad they both were at it. It was always funny together when they were close, but he worried that it might be a bit more frustrating since they’ve been apart for so long. And because of their...inconvenient guests. He grimaced. Sometimes it was a blessing that the mask hid his facial expressions.

Jack gave an exaggerated roll of his eyes. “Didn’t say it was a challenge, but sure.” How ridiculous. They were doing this together. Of _ course _it was a challenge.

As he got into the car and tried to lean back in his seat, the odd proportions of it threatened to knock him out of his chair. So there goes any chance of being comfortable. Did the monkey have to ruin everything?

“What is _ he _doing here?” Winston said, using an accusatory tone, as if Gabriel had done something wrong just by existing. Maybe it was more obvious who he was than he thought. He had revealed to the members of Overwatch that he was ‘Reaper’. Now, he somewhat regretted that.

Gabriel already felt himself getting annoyed. “I’ll show you wha--” 

Jack cut him off. “Going with us. We’re gonna have fun. Neither of you start any shit.” Both Gabriel and Winston crossed their arms and looked away from each other. Yeah, that monkey better not start anything. He’d take his damn head off, even without his guns. Gabriel was still proud of himself for leaving those at home. Those were his babies, but not exactly conducive to a good peace offering.

As he settled himself into the car, he had tuned out most of the actual words of Lena and Winston’s conversation, but could very easily tell just how loud they were. This ride was going to be annoying as hell, wasn’t it?

“How long is the drive, anyway?” Gabriel asked Jack.

“Only 3 hours.”

“3 hours?!”

\--

By hour 3 of the trip, Gabriel was convinced that this was Hell. Lena on her own might not be that bad, but Winston was absolutely insufferable, and putting them together just made everything worse. They didn’t seem to understand the term “volume control”, and if he heard the word “science” one more time he was going to go back to killing people. Not helping was the fact that they never stopped talking. There had been maybe a few minutes of silence, total. Combined with the constant bumping of the poorly-proportioned van, this was starting to give him a killer headache.

At least he’d gotten in some good conversation with Jack. They weren’t quite at the point of their old familiarity yet, but it was still nice to talk and joke around with someone at all. Considering he’d barely spoken to anyone in months, any kind of company was appreciated. Besides, all of that could build up to a closer friendship later. Now if only there weren’t two obstructions getting in the way...

Lena rubbed Gabriel’s shoulder. “You know, Gabe”—_ Jack when did you say she could call me that _—“This will be way more fun for you if you stop pouting the whole time.”

“I am not pouting.” Pardon him for being a bit annoyed at having two people latch onto his first chance of having fun with his friend.

“Yeah, you are.” She put her hand on her chin and impersonated Gabriel’s voice: “I don’t want to be here, I have to polish my cloak and the sun is burning my dark soul.” She laughed, and Jack snorted.

He glared at Jack. “Aren’t you supposed to be on my side?”

“Not on anyone’s side,” Jack said as he turned the car left. Every turn felt awkward in this car, and Gabriel sincerely wondered about the safety of its design. “We’re here.” 

The van pulled up to a winter resort. It felt frigid at this elevation, and Gabriel lamented the fact that he had gone from his cold apartment into another place that felt just as cold. The slopes were crowded with people who were still off for Christmas vacation. Gabriel’s breathing picked up a bit as he thought about the way his body looked in front of all of these people, and he held the mask closer to his face. God, when did he become such a coward?

To his surprise, he felt a large hand pat his shoulder. “You alright?” When he looked back, he saw Jack looking at him, a bit of concern on his face. 

Maybe this was worth it after all.

Gabriel nodded. “Yeah. Don’t worry about me. Focus on how I’m gonna kick your ass at skiing.” He smirked beneath the mask, and hoped Jack could sense it in his tone.

Although he tried to play it cool, the continued stares he was perceiving from the people around him were starting to wear down on him. Not only that, but he should’ve known Jack wasn’t going to forgive him, anyway. This was such a terrible idea. What was wrong with him, expecting someone like Jack to ever want to be around a monster like him--

“Hey.” Jack snapped him out of his trance. He squeezed his shoulder again. That was always Jack’s only reassurance technique, wasn’t it? “Wanna go somewhere private and talk for a bit while Lena and Winston are renting their shit? Know a place we can go.”

“Don’t you need boots, too?” Instantly, Gabriel realized he had said the wrong thing. If he lost the opportunity to be alone with Jack now…

Jack shook his head. “Nope. These babies are insulated as hell.” He pointed to his gaudy rainbow socks. They had flowers on them, in a way that gave off the vibe that Jack lived in the 1970s. Ugh, his wardrobe had really slipped since Gabriel had been gone. 

As much as he hated being coddled, this was what he’d wanted from the start, if he was honest. He nodded.

Jack motioned towards Lena. “Hey. Me and Gabe will be back in a minute. You think you can handle renting things while we’re gone?”

Lena looked over at Winston, and Gabriel saw that he was already having a heated discussion with the attendants. He realized how difficult it would be to size things for a gorilla. “Uh, actually…”

“Great,” Jack said, and rushed off. Gabriel followed, leaving Lena to whatever mess she would have to deal with.

Jack took him to a lounge that was out of the way of the normal path, causing it to be mostly empty. The two of them sat on a couch near a fireplace, which gave off a low crackling noise. Even though they’d only been out for a little while, the warmth was still a nice reprieve from the frigid mountain air. He really had never been a ‘cold’ person. It didn’t suit someone from LA, he supposed.

There was so much to say. He didn’t know where to start. Eventually, Jack started for him (thank God). “Uh...wanted to tell you something.” He scratched the back of his head and looked away, hesitating. “Sorry. For not calling you sooner. Wanted you to come over for Christmas, but I thought you’d just tell me to fuck off.” That caught Gabriel off guard. But Jack wasn’t finished. “So, do you wanna just...try again? See if we can still be friends, now that all of the bullshit is behind us?”

Gabriel considered giving a snarky response, but for now he kept it to himself. Maybe he’d just be doubly snarky later to make up for it. “You know what? Sure. Why the fuck not.”

“Nice!” Jack said, perking up a bit. He quickly composed himself. Always so bad at hiding his emotions. “Yeah. Cool.” He paused for a moment, staring downwards. Gabriel looked down with him, but all he saw was the wood flooring of the lounge. “By the way, if something’s bothering you, we can leave.”

It was true that the crowd was bothering him, but he didn’t want to lose his chance to have a nice time with Jack. Even if they were putting the past behind them, they were still lacking in fun experiences with each other. This was a good start to rebuilding their friendship, and getting away from the prospect of spending another Christmas alone.

“Nah. It’s fine.” Trying to avoid being _ too _vulnerable, he said, “Or are you afraid I’ll beat your ass?”

“You mean by falling on your face?” Jack said, giving him a smirk. 

“I’ll kick your ass right here if you keep talking like that,” Gabriel said, completely bluffing. That got a laugh out of Jack, which he was pretty sure was playful rather than condescending. 

“Yeah, I’m so scared,” Jack said. He started to get up. “Let’s go see if Winston and Lena got in any trouble.”

\--

As they started to walk back to the rental shop, Lena waved and shouted for them. He heard the pink boots she was wearing were very ‘in’ this season. 

“Hey Dad! Dad!” Ugh, could she be any louder?

Jack didn’t seem to be bothered, though. He always seemed much better at tolerating her ‘quirks’ than Gabriel was. In fact, he even smiled at her when she came over. “They find something for Winston?”

“They had to give him a snowboard made for Omnics so it would hold his weight. You should’ve seen the attendant trying to figure out how to fit his feet in the holes!” She laughed. 

Winston sighed. “I didn’t think I gained any weight.”

“You didn’t. You’re literally a gorilla,” Gabriel said, in a deadpan tone. 

Winston looked down, as if he genuinely hadn’t considered that. “That’s true. Maybe I should start a store for people of different species!” Yeah, as if there are so many other talking gorillas in the world.

“Winston, you’re the only one that would shop there!” Lena laughed again. Well, she put that in a nicer way than he would have.

“Oh. Right,” Winston said, scratching the back of his head.

“Let’s get a move on. Only bought passes for the rest of the day.” As Jack started to make his way to the ski lift, Lena cheered and ran to catch up with him. Gabriel followed, trying to ignore the stares of people around him. Traveling with a talking gorilla didn’t exactly make them any less likely to be gawked at. 

When they got to the lift, Gabriel quickly realized a problem: these lifts were tiny. Certainly not big enough to hold a god damn gorilla. Nobody else seemed to notice this problem, especially not Winston. 

“What are you doing?” The attendant asked, giving them an incredulous expression. Yeah, no shit. She paused, managing to regain her composure. “Sir, the lift will not be able to hold your weight. You’ll have to leave.”

“What? That’s ridiculous!” Winston said. _ It’s really not… _ “Lifts are built to withstand weight. Based on my calculations of the mass of both myself and the lift-- oh forget it, I’ll just show you.” Winston started to walk towards the lift. Oh no. He wasn’t going to...

“Sir--”

“Winston, wait!” Lena shouted. 

But it was too late; Winston had already made it to the lift and started to sit down. The lift instantly collapsed under his weight with a loud crash. “Uh...oops.” He said with an awkward laugh.

“Are you a fucking idiot?!” Gabriel shouted. One chance for a nice vacation with Jack, and this stupid monkey was ruining it. “Why the fuck did you think that would work?” He moved closer to Winston, rage starting to take over him. Was Jack going to be pissed off now? Would this potential friendship-rebuilding activity be ruined by this god damn monkey, who wasn’t even invited until his friend forced him upon them?

Other people in the line were starting to rubberneck at the commotion at the front of the line. As if he needed more people staring at him. All this was doing was pissing him off more. “Why are you always so rude to everyone?” Winston retorted. 

“We’re going to have to ask you both to leave,” the attendant said, appearing bewildered at the situation in front of her.

Now the monkey had gotten them kicked out? The fear of being alone filled him once more. “I’m ‘rude’ because you’re ruining everything!” His hands were balled into fists at this point.

“You’re just a bully, Gabriel.” Winston returned his glare.

Seriously? Turning this back on him? As if it were his fault? “I’m not here to impress you, monk--” 

Gabriel was cut off by a large hand grabbing onto his arm. Slowly, he looked up to see Jack staring at him. He did _ not _look happy. “You heard her. We’re leaving.” A cloud went over the sun at that moment, casting a shadow over Jack. He looked over to the side and saw Lena with her hand over her mouth, looking forlorn.

Well, fuck.

\--

After an extremely awkward walk back to the parking lot, the four stood outside the resort. Luckily, there were relatively few people here. Less witnesses to his embarrassment. Jack had been breathing deeply the entire walk; Gabriel recalled Angela telling them about deep breathing exercises to control their anger. Wait, Jack actually listened to her advice?

Once they were in a less crowded area, Lena nudged Gabriel. “Got a minute?” Gabriel looked over at Jack, who nodded. It didn’t look like the breathing exercises helped him very much, because he still wore a severe glare. Meanwhile, Winston wouldn’t look in his direction.

“Fine.” He dreaded the prospect of being lectured by her. That would probably just piss him off even further. Despite his misgivings, he followed her into a clearing surrounded by trees, away from the others, hopefully far away enough that they couldn’t hear. The snow was deep here, as it was allowed to accumulate off the beaten path; it reached above his boots and lapped at his pants. He could still see Jack and Winston from here, but couldn’t easily make out their expressions to tell how angry Jack was. 

She leaned backwards onto a tree. “So, you’ve been fighting with Winston.”

At this moment, his frustration was so intense, but more than that, he was terrified. Scared that his chances with Jack might have been ruined, especially since he had clearly pissed him off now. “Yeah. He really fucking pisses me off.”

She shook her head. “You didn’t even give him a chance, love. I promise he’s really sweet.”

Ugh, was he the villain again? “Why should I? He didn’t give me one, either.” OK, _ maybe _he was a bit more bothered by Winston’s rejection than he had realized. It felt as if nobody would ever forgive him, and the creeping loneliness started to get to him again.

“Well, you did do some pretty awful things…” She bit her lip. “I’m not here to tell you that you’re a bad guy. I think there’s good in everyone, and I can tell that Dad cares about you, so I’m willing to forgive you. But other people might not be like that.” Well, that was at least a bit reassuring.

Putting his hands in his pockets, he kicked a bit of snow up in the air, causing it to hit one of the trees. As if that would somehow redirect his emotions and release all of them. The little dent it left in the snowpack kind of ruined the scenery, actually. “What can I even do about that?”

She closed her eyes, as if contemplating. “Well, I think it’s easy to say you’re not going to hurt people anymore, but that doesn’t mean much at all. You have to show you’ll do good things.” She opened her eyes, staring directly into the eyeholes of his mask. “Might take a while, but people will give you a chance soon enough if you keep behaving. You can’t just say you’re sorry then expect everyone to just think you’re a nice guy right there.” He didn’t tell her that he’d only apologized to Jack, and that didn’t necessarily apply to anyone else.

“Hm. Maybe you’re right.” He smirked, then remembered that nobody could see his facial expressions beneath the mask. Maybe he’d start taking it off in public sometime soon. His ruined face might get less stares than wearing a mask all the time, now that he thought about it. “When did you get so smart?”

“I’m not actually a kid, you know!” She laughed, and he did as well. That was the first time this entire trip that someone other than Jack made him laugh. 

Maybe Jack was right to like her.

Looking back where they came from, it seemed Winston was getting chewed out pretty harshly by Jack. Gabriel almost felt bad for him. Almost. Lena gave Winston a sympathetic look.

As much as the petty side of him would enjoy watching Winston get yelled at from afar for as long as possible, he knew it was time to face Jack’s reaction to his own outburst. Ugh. “We should head back,” he said, beckoning her in their direction. Lena nodded. 

By the time they had returned to Jack and Winston’s location, Jack had stopped yelling, and appeared to be trying to cool off. Winston looked away from all of them, shame written across his features. Was that guilt he was feeling? He was already getting soft. _ Dammit, Jack. _That man always softened him up somehow.

Jack sighed when he saw them. “Did you tell him off, Lena?”

“Oh yeah.” She winked at Gabriel. “Gave him a real piece of my mind.” What was she…?

Jack crossed his arms at the chest. “Alright, guess I won’t grill him twice. You better not fight anymore for the rest of the trip, either of you.” Lena grinned at Gabriel.

Oh. She saved his ass.

Jack beckoned the group towards the van (which he was a bit nervous about getting back into. He’d already died once, he didn’t need it to happen again). After they all packed in as best they could, Lena gave Jack a sheepish expression. “Sorry for inviting myself.” _ What you should be sorry for is inviting the monkey. _He kept that thought to himself, for now. “It was a rotten idea. Just wanted to spend time with you, Dad.”

Jack’s expression quickly softened. “Don’t be sorry. You were plenty welcome, and we all had fun.” As he powered the car on, he smiled at her and said, “Tell you what, we can listen to your dumb poppy music if you want.”

“It’s not dumb!” She laughed. Jack made good on that offer, as he turned the radio to a station that reminded him of the boy bands he heard when he was younger. 

After that, Lena, Jack, and Gabriel started having an enjoyable conversation. Gabriel found himself laughing quite often, and not just at the things Jack said. Lena wasn’t so bad. Although he had assumed that any of the former Overwatch members would dislike him now (becoming an international terrorist wasn’t exactly a good way to make friends with the so-called heroes), she retained her pleasant demeanor towards him. There was a clear connection between her and Jack, as well; he supposed they had gotten closer while he was busy sulking.

However, Winston didn’t participate in the conversation at all. Occasionally, Lena would look towards him as if expecting a response, but he only looked out the window the entire time, shame still showing. Gabriel could see the disappointment on her face every time, and it made him feel a bit guilty. Maybe he shouldn’t have called him a monkey. 

Looking out the window himself, he saw nothing but a long series of highways. It was odd how these streets were so busy, yet simultaneously felt like there was no activity on them at all. Full of common people doing common things. None of them would get any stares when they walked out in public. That was an experience he hadn’t had in decades. From being a world military leader to being a smoke monster in a mask, being “normal” was a luxury he never had. Some might view those people as insignificant, but he often wondered where his life would be now if he was one of them. Those were dangerous thoughts.

A relatively accurate measure of how close they were to their destination was the way the snowpack would thin - as they got further down the mountain and closer to home, the snow reduced until it reached the same one-inch depth. Around when it got to that height, Jack pulled into the parking lot of the park where he picked up Gabriel. The temperature outside was nearly equal to what it was on the mountain now, as the cold night air took over. He felt lucky that his hoodie was as insulated as it was. Was he ever going to feel warm again?

“Lena’s gonna drive her van home. Live kinda close to you, so I’ll walk you home,” Jack grunted. Wait, he lived within walking distance? Gabriel _ may _ have deliberately chosen to live in the same town as Jack, but he didn’t realize just how close he was. That would make visiting him a lot easier...if that was even in his future after he pissed Jack off today.

The four got out of the car. “Bye Dad!” Lena said, in that annoyingly loud tone. He really wanted to ask her to stop doing that. Lena gave Jack a hug. 

Jack patted Lena on the shoulder. “Bye, kiddo. Call me if you need anything, okay?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not 12, Dad,” she said, but gave a good-natured laugh. “Happy we even got that sourpuss to have fun.” She winked at Gabriel.

“Maybe. I’d never admit it, though.” He crossed his arms.

When he looked to his side, he saw Winston approaching him. If he started another fight, Gabriel might end up getting physical this time. “Gabe.”

“Yeah?” Gabriel responded, raising an eyebrow within the mask.

“Uh, can we start over? Let’s just forget about every fight we had on this trip.” He hesitated. “I’m sure you’re a nice guy somewhere in there…”

Gabriel nodded. Eh, why the hell not. He reached out his hand to shake with Winston, who reached his out as well...then pulled it backwards and ran it across the top of his head.

“Sike!” He laughed, then closed his door. 

Winston wasn’t very good at jokes, was he?

\--

Jack and Gabriel began their walk back to Gabriel’s house, with Jack having his hands in his pockets. Luckily, it wasn’t too far away. This part of town was relatively compact, creating a quaint area filled with local businesses and quiet neighborhoods. Around this time in the evening, activity was starting to wind down, and some shops were closing. For the best, really; after being in the car with those two, he could sure as hell use less noise.

The streets still had some cars passing by at this hour, but the traffic had thinned. Everything really did feel quieter in winter; although the snow had been cleared from the sidewalk and the street, it still gathered on the grassy inlets scattered around. A light wind blew, which only increased the chill; most people around him were wearing even bulkier clothes than he was. Still, the clear sky allowed for a good view of the stars (well, the ones that weren’t blocked by light pollution). A community for a picture perfect suburban retirement. Never thought he’d end up in any place like that.

“I kinda fucked everything up, didn’t I?” Gabriel said. That was kind of close to an apology, right? At least it was acknowledging that he made a mistake. Even doing that put a bit of a strain on him.

Jack shook his head. “Nah. You’re fine.” Wait. Really? “I got pissed off, but no big deal. And you handled those two better than I thought you would, since you didn’t know they were coming.” Wow. Maybe he’d be able to avoid spending another Christmas alone after all.

“What, are you implying I’m not sociable?” Gabriel said, feigning offense.

“Yep. Sure am,” Jack grunted. He paused for a moment, looking up at the sky. Gabriel looked over at him and wondered if he was cold in the light purple jacket he wore. Then again, he was from freeze-your-nuts-off Indiana, so maybe he was used to it. “You know, Gabe, it sucks what happened. But if you’re gonna be a good person again, part of that is that you have to learn to chill out sometimes. Shitty things are going to happen no matter what, and you can’t just explode every time they do.”

“Thanks for the philosophy lesson, Mr. Morrison. Please allow me to prove myself in the future for gold stars,” he said, cupping his hands together as if he were pleading.

Jack rolled his eyes. “Fuck off.” For a moment he wondered if he had offended him again, but he dismissed that quickly. Jack was never easily offended by him; that was one of the things that made them work in the first place. Gabriel had never liked sensitive types. “Yeah, everything’s cool. Maybe we could meet up again sometime. Not like you shot me or something.”

Gabriel punched his shoulder, but both of them laughed. As he passed by a restaurant that was just closing its doors, he realized how glad he was that he went. A lot of frustrating things happened, but he got some time to hang out with Jack, and might have even made a new connection. Not only that, but he felt like it would be much less awkward to ask to hang out next time. All he needed to do was have that first good experience. Now, he could be on his way to having a positive relationship with him again.

It was nice to have friends.


	2. January, Year 1

The first day of the new year. Gabriel’s New Year’s Eve had been kind of depressing. He spent it alone, drinking and watching TV. It seemed like every channel had something relating to celebrating and parties that night; he would switch the channel every time. Those people were all having fun. He remembered when he used to have fun. Some of his craziest parties had been on New Year’s Eve. 

He could’ve asked Jack what he was doing that night, but he wasn’t sure if they had reached the level of closeness yet where he wanted Jack to see him drunk. More importantly, he didn’t want alcohol to make him accidentally confess some of his more shameful feelings. 

Besides, he told himself, he still didn’t want to go outside, anyway. It was better this way, and he was _ not _in denial. He had realized that the mask made him just as noticeable to people as his disfigured face did. Even that wasn’t enough to make people not think of him as a freak. Maybe he’d come up with a new strategy. Why didn’t Moira give him invisibility powers, too?

His thoughts were interrupted when his phone went off. Last time that happened, it was someone claiming to be his ‘number neighbor’. Maybe he shouldn’t have told that person to suck a dick, but they caught him in a bad mood. He was always in a bad mood nowadays, but still.

Luckily, it wasn’t anything that stupid. This time, it was Jack. Finally, something worthwhile.

_ 11:23am Hey _

_ 11:23am Wanna come ov;er? _

Gabriel thought nothing of that strange typo, focusing more on how excited he was by what Jack was asking. OK, play it cool.

_ 11:24am Well, if you REALLY need me to... _

He snickered at the thought of Jack rolling his eyes in response to that.

_ 11:24am Sorry _

_ 11:24am Donm’t have to _

Huh? Jack was never that sensitive. Unless...

_ 11:25am Don’t tell me you’re drunk at 11 in the morning. _

At first, he was considering asking Jack to drive him over, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to now.

_ 11:25am Just come ove.r _

This might be serious.

_ 11:25am On my way. _

That meant he had to go outside. Which was fine, right? Jack’s house wasn’t far away. It was nothing to worry about.

As he put on his jacket and opened the door (trying to get out as quickly as possible, considering how fucked up Jack sounded), he realized that it indeed was something to worry about. He had decided to wear the mask anyway (although he didn’t wear the cloak, instead opting for a normal sweatshirt under his coat), and he instantly noticed a woman stare as she passed by, then look away when his mask looked towards her. Hopefully people would think it was a costume for a party or something.

He walked down the street, trying to ignore the other people around him. If they were staring, he didn’t want to know. Unfortunately, the streets were bustling with activity as people celebrated the new year, making even more people able to gawk at him. 

All he could do was try to look for cover as much as possible. The shade from trees didn’t actually cover anything, but it made him feel slightly better, so he stayed on the edge of the sidewalk. 

He took a deep breath. Everything was fine. A group of teenage girls whispered at each other as he walked by, and the area around him started to spin a bit. “Fuck off, I know you’re talking about me,” he turned around and said. No, he absolutely was not above arguing with a bunch of kids. 

One of the girls gave him a face that expressed way more disdain than was acceptable to him. At least he had enough restraint to not punch her. “Why are you wearing that?”

Unfortunately, he couldn't think of a comeback. Instead, he glared at her (although he knew she couldn’t see it), then ripped one of the charms off her phone, threw it on the ground, then stomped on it. He stormed off, leaving all of the girls looking bewildered.

As he walked towards Jack’s house, he realized that may have been a _ bit _petty. Whatever. She started it. 

Not at all surprisingly, that didn’t make him feel any better. While his breathing was picking up, he realized that he had finally reached Jack’s house. Thank God. 

When he knocked on the door, he heard a crash, then a muffled “Fuck.” After a moment, the door opened. 

“Hey,” Jack said, smiling weakly. He did...not look well. His hair was a disheveled mess, and it was clear from the bags under his eyes that he had been crying. Jack was always a sad drunk. “Come in.” He stepped out of the way, allowing Gabriel inside.

“You look like shit,” Gabriel said, then instantly regretted how blunt that was. 

“Sorry,” Jack responded. Gabriel noticed him lifting a bottle to his lips. So he was still drinking. How much booze had he drank already? 

Too much, obviously, because he started to stumble, then nearly fell over, spilling a bit of alcohol on the floor in the process. Gabriel caught him. “If you throw up on me, I’m gonna kill you,” Gabriel grumbled, eliciting a laugh out of Jack as he lowered his impaired friend onto the couch and put the bottle on the nearby coffee table. 

After successfully getting him onto the couch, grabbing onto his sides to make sure he didn’t fall over, Gabriel sat down next to him. “So, why the hell are you drunk at 11 in the morning?”

“Lonely,” was all Jack managed to say. Wait. Really? Gabriel thought Jack actually had his life together by now. He really needed to stop making assumptions about other people. Jack turned towards him. “Gabe, why haven’t you called me?” His eyes betrayed a deep hurt.

This put Gabriel in a tough position. There was no way he was going to admit that he was too much of a pussy to call his own friend, but he had to help Jack feel better. “Just haven’t had time,” he lied. Wow, what a terrible excuse.

However, that stupid excuse seemed to satisfy Jack. Thank God he was dense. “Sorry. Just being dumb.” Jack stared into the distance. 

Gabriel shook his head. He ran through every bit of advice ever given to him about being sensitive (most of which he had ignored). Angela always said to validate the person’s feelings when they’re hurt, right? “Nah, you’re fine. You know, if you’d told me you were lonely, I would’ve found time to come over.” Was that ‘victim blaming’ or something? God, he was bad at this.

“S-sorry.” He paused, resting his head on his hands. “Got no other friends here, Gabe. Lena lives in f-fucking England, and Ana’s in fucking Egypt.” Come to think of it, Gabriel had never heard Jack mention anyone he had met here, and Gabriel had no idea where their old friends even were. Maybe Jack knew. “S-spent my New Year's Eve alone.” 

Well, that was a feeling he knew too well.

As Jack took the bottle off the coffee table and started to move it towards his face again, Gabriel put his hand around it. “Think you’ve had enough.”

Jack shook his head. “I’m f-fine.” He tried to put the bottle down, but it ended up falling over, spilling the small amount of it left onto the floor. “OK, maybe I’m a l-little drunk.” A little?

What could make Jack believe they were really friends? After a moment of thought (not looking away from Jack, to make sure he didn’t fall on his face), he had an idea. Taking a deep breath, Gabriel lifted his hand to his face, and took off his mask. He found himself shaking. Nobody had seen him under it in a very long time. Jack better fucking appreciate this sign of trust, because every part of him was screaming to put it back on, so no one would have to see what a hideous monster he was.

The scars along his face ran deeply through his cheeks and forehead, and there were several holes just below his eyes. His eyes were a bloodshot red, and his mouth was elongated to the right with many extra teeth. The center of his face didn’t look any better, with the way his nose was bent sharply to the left, and there was a large depression in the center. He always thought it looked like a small meteor had hit him. The smoke coming from the top of his head didn’t help his looks, either.

Luckily, Jack did seem to realize the importance of this. Good, because he would be pissed as hell if he ripped out all of his own insecurities for nothing. Instead of recoiling like Gabriel knew any sane person would, Jack merely gave him a smile. “That’s what you were so sad about? You look fine.” Unless Jack’s drunkenness was impairing his vision, he really didn’t understand how the hell he thought that.

Gabriel told himself not to put too much stock into it. Jack was only saying that because he was drunk off his ass. Right? Even with that in mind, though, he couldn’t help a feeling of hope rising in his chest. Somebody accepted him. There really was someone in the world that wouldn’t think of him as the abomination he was. And that person, as always, was Jack. At that moment, he realized something: that’s how it had been from the beginning, hadn’t it? 

He knew he wouldn’t be able to find the words to express how he felt. So how could he show caring? “Here. Lay down.” Jack fussed a bit, but Gabriel helped lower his body onto his back (good thing he remembered _ some _first aid techniques), and he seemed to get comfortable quickly. A blanket was located across the room, on one of the chairs; Gabriel grabbed it and put it over Jack, stopping at his chest. 

“So, anyway--” He started to talk, until he heard Jack snoring. Jesus, that was fast. 

Looking around the room, Gabriel found a book, and sat down in the chair closest to the couch.

He didn’t mind staying here awhile.

\--

After a few hours (which were surprisingly relaxing), Jack stirred on the couch. “Ugh, my head.” He put his hand on his forehead. Looking up, his eyes met Gabriel’s. “Oh, hey Gabe.” Right then, Gabriel froze, as he realized he still didn’t have the mask on. Oh God, now Jack was going to see his face sober, he’d probably be so disgusted-- “Nice to see you without the dumb mask on. Makes you look like a bird.”

Oh.

“It’s an owl, Jack. Read a fucking book.” It was nice that Jack could see him rolling his eyes. There was something refreshing about not having to have a barrier with at least one person in the world.

He grinned at him. “That’s a bird. It counts.” Jack rubbed his temples and started to try getting up. “What the hell happened?”

Gabriel tried not to show too much worry in the expression he gave Jack. Oh yeah, that meant he could see emotions other than exasperated ones, too. “You got drunk off your ass. You feel any better?”

“I feel like shit, actually.” He managed to sit up on the couch. “But it’s nice to have you around. We should hang out more.”

For the first time, he let someone see his smile without the mask on. 

“Yeah. We should.”

Gabriel stayed at Jack’s house for a couple more hours. He claimed that it was so he could help him if he threw up, but really, he just didn’t want to put the mask back on. Now that it was off, he felt liberated, in a way. But definitely not enough to not wear it outside. Oh, and he was enjoying time with his friend, too. That was just a little bit of it, though, right?

Eventually, though, he felt as if he was overstaying his welcome. Jack never said anything of the sort, but it was about how he felt, not how Jack did. That didn’t make any sense when he thought about it, but whatever. Emotions were stupid like that.

So, he got up from his chair. They had spent most of their time just talking, with Gabriel helping Jack manage what seemed like an absolutely brutal hangover. He sure as hell did not envy Jack right now. “I gotta go.” He looked over at Jack. “You better not drink any more today,” he warned.

Jack grinned at him. “I thought I was the Dad here.”

“I shot you once, I can do it again,” Gabriel responded. It might not be the best idea to bring that kind of thing up again. Oh well.

Jack didn’t seem to mind, though; in fact, he laughed. Good to see he wasn’t still miserable. “Oh, just go home already, you damn ghoul.” Gabriel realized then that there was still smoke rising out of his head. From anyone else, he would’ve taken offense to that, but he knew Jack didn’t mean it as an insult. 

“I resent that. I’m a monster, not a ghost,” Gabriel said, feigning offense.

Jack shook his head. “Y’know, I don’t like it when you call yourself that. You’re not a monster. Just look a little different now, is all.”

Damn, this man really was a piece of work.

He didn’t know how to respond to that. He couldn’t even think of a joke. Instead, all he said was, “Thanks.” Man, he really wasn’t cool anymore, was he? Jack didn’t seem to judge him, though, because he smiled at Gabriel.

With that, Gabriel made his way towards the door. Sighing, he put the mask back on. He was going to miss actually feeling free for once. At least it kept his face warm. 

“Text me later,” Jack said, a hint of pleading in his voice. Gabriel nodded, and some tension seemed to leave Jack’s body. Gabriel waved at Jack as he closed the door behind him. 

As he walked back to his own building, he noticed the sun starting to set. There was a sharp chill in the air, and he felt himself shivering. At this hour, though, activity in town was starting to wind down. Not like anywhere that was actually fun. The crowds from before had thinned out a bit, making walking home significantly less stressful than the previous trip. In fact, he didn’t feel himself panicking at all. The familiar sense of discomfort was still there when he passed people and assumed they were staring, but at least he didn’t feel so dizzy this time. In his current state, he probably wouldn’t have even broken that girl’s charm. (No, he absolutely would have).

He made it back to his apartment building without too much incident. People seemed more focused on the fact that it was cold as balls rather than on judging him. The area around his apartment building was always a bit depressing; everything here looked a bit run-down, and the dumpsters next to the building didn’t help. There was graffiti on the walls of several buildings nearby, and one of the cars parked outside of a house had broken windows. No wonder this place was so cheap. 

Suddenly, a ragged-looking man walked up to him. Where the hell had even come from? “Oh, Grim Reaper,” he started, sounding more like shouting than normal talking, “I’ve failed my mission. The bitch is still alive.” Yeah, this guy was on some kind of drugs. Especially since he did _ not _look like the actual Grim Reaper. Did he? Maybe he should be a bit proud that his mask was that convincing. Take that, Jack.

He turned around and walked away from the man, refusing to look in his direction. God, he hated this place.

Even with his crappy surroundings, though, he still felt much more content going back home than he had when he left.

This year was already looking like it’d be less shitty than the last one.


	3. April, Year 1

Now that spring was coming on, the vegetation had been revitalized. Green leaves hung overhead on the tree Gabriel was leaning on, and flowers in purple and red dotted the landscape. Pretty, he supposed, but all this meant for him was a bunch of crowds. Still, he couldn’t stop himself from appreciating the lush greenery around him. He hadn’t appreciated pretty things in a very long time. Too focused on darkness.

The crowds still got to him, but he found it a bit easier to handle nowadays. He preferred to avoid areas like this, and he felt his stomach turn a bit as he watched a group of picnickers glance at him when they passed by, but at least he could go outside every once in a while. It was a start, right?

There was only one reason he would be in a place like this, and that reason presented itself while he was distracted by his own thoughts.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and nearly wraithed in surprise. “Hey, Gabe.” Couldn’t Jack greet him like a normal person? 

Although it was nice to see Jack, there was one unfortunate part of being around him in the warmer months: he got to wear his warm-weather clothing. The abomination he had on at the moment was a Hawaiian shirt (like so many of his other shirts…), but all of the flowers were a vomit-colored green; his shorts were bizarrely short and had pineapples on them. “Dear God, that outfit makes you look as hideous as my face.”

“Your face looks fine. And I’m too old to keep up with the fashion trends,” he said.

“You’re too old to walk.”

“I’m not even older than you!”

He wondered if the people here thought their bickering meant they were actually mad. Was that why people thought they hated each other?

“Whatever you say,” Gabriel said, entirely ignoring Jack’s point. “Let’s go.” Gabriel started walking in the direction of the left trail. Jack followed. Then, the two veered off the beaten path and into the denser forest. The tree cover was very heavy here, keeping almost everyone out. When Gabriel went out with Jack, they usually went to this area, and he even felt comfortable taking his mask off for a moment. His face always got hot with that thing on. 

As Jack walked, he put his hands behind his head and took a deep inhale. He had always loved these nature walks, hadn’t he? In the very small amount of spare time they had when they were in Overwatch, he remembered Jack taking him to the mountains and saying the air was clearer there. Nice memories, even though it usually ended with Gabriel pushing him into the snow. “So, how’s it going? You doing any less brooding?” He detected a bit of concern in Jack’s tone, even though the question wasn’t framed that way. During their last meeting, the crowds started to overwhelm Gabriel, and he left in a rush. That kind of anxiety was something Jack would never truly understand, so he didn’t bother telling him, even though his help might have been appreciated. Burdening him with that would just make him feel guilty for something he couldn’t change.

“Could be worse. It’s nice to get out of the house.” For a reason other than killing people.

He frowned. “Wish I could help you, Gabe.” 

“You wish you could help everyone, Captain America. It’s fine. I’ll survive.”

“You sure? You aren’t very good at not dying.” Jack snickered.

He kicked Jack in the ass. “Eat a dick.” Feeling satisfied with the way Jack lurched forward, he continued without acknowledging anything happened, “Why’d you call me here, anyway?”

“We’re doing something fun.” As they got closer to an area with more people, Gabriel put his mask back on, wondering what fun thing Jack was talking about. He had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t actually going to be fun. This was confirmed when they reached their destination: a golfing area. Jack beamed at it. “We’re here.”

“I don’t fucking golf, Jack.” 

Jack grunted. “You don’t do anything fun.”

“Maybe not _ your _idea of fun.” What was fun about hitting a ball into a hole over and over? Anyone could do that.

“Come on. I haven’t played in months, and you need some damn sun, so we’re doing it.” Sometimes he wondered if Jack thought he was _ his _dad, too.

“Fine.” He started to trudge towards the driving range, pouting a bit. Jack shook his head.

“Nah. We’re doing 18.” He pointed to a much larger golf course in the distance.

“Ugh.”

\--

After Jack rented a set of clubs for the two of them and got a bucket of golf balls (okay, making innuendos about buying “balls” was actually kind of fun), they set out onto the green in the cart, with Gabriel driving. At least he had control of something. As they stopped at the tee of the first hole, Jack put his hand above his eyes, trying to get a better view of the course. He supposed that bringing the visor would be cheating.

On their way to renting the clubs and reaching the course itself, Jack tried to school Gabriel on a variety of golfing terms and techniques, but Gabriel made it clear how dreadfully boring they were. Thankfully, the course was relatively small, at least in comparison to some of the ones he imagined Jack spent his time on as a kid, considering Indiana was probably composed of nothing but empty space. Unfortunately, there were also small ponds and sand traps scattered in abundance across the grass, meaning that any mistake would likely have consequences. Maybe he should’ve listened to the lesson.

“Seems pretty short. Should be able to get through the front 9 pretty fast.”

Were those words? “The front what?”

Jack shook his head. “Never mind. Wow, I know more about something than you do for once.”

“Sorry I’m not fucking white, gringo.” Not at all surprisingly, none of his family was ever interested in golfing. Jack probably came from a long line of boring redneck golfers. 

“I’ll leave your ass here without the cart if I have to.” Jack started to set up the tee. “Besides, golfing is fun. My uncle Billy was the champ back in Bloomington. Had a whole cabinet of trophies.” Wow, how did he know? 

“You really had an uncle named Billy. Really,” Gabriel said, tone drier than the sand traps.

“Yep. Parents wanted to name me that, too.” If Jack really had been named Billy, Gabriel would have been way too embarrassed to ever speak to him. 

Jack started to test his swing. Aligning his form with mechanical efficiency, Jack swung the club, sending the ball flying. Precise aim led the ball to land directly on the fairway, avoiding several bunkers nearby. It looked simple enough. Right?

“Not bad.” He nodded. “Your turn.”

Unfortunately, even getting his posture right was harder than it looked. 

“Your feet are too close together,” Jack said. He tried to push them further apart, but it just felt like he was going to fall.

Jack shook his head. “Posture’s still wrong.” There was no frustration showing in his voice, which told Gabriel that he probably expected this. _ Could’ve warned me about it. Probably just wants to look cool. Asshole _.

“Go away, coach. I got this.” Gabriel tried to mimic Jack’s posture, but it wasn’t working at all. Fuck it. He was frustrated already. He took the club and swung it, hoping for the best.

The best did not come. The club flew completely out of his hands, flying all the way to the golf cart and smashing the window.

Gabriel stared at the cart, then back at Jack. Oh God. He was in trouble now. Both of them were silent for a moment, until he heard Jack start to laugh. His laugh kept getting louder, to the point that he had to lean over. “You’re a natural!”

Oh, it was on now. Gabriel ran towards Jack and punched Jack in the stomach (not at full force, of course). Jack recoiled for a moment, coughing, and Gabriel wondered if he’d actually hurt him; after a moment, though, Jack grinned at him. “You still have to do the rest of the front 9. Didn’t rent those clubs for you to just break shit.” 

Gabriel decided to direct his rage somewhere else. He’d kick his ass at golf. This was something important to him, right? Yeah. That would show him.

First, he had to get back his club. He walked over to the golf cart, reaching inside and getting stabbed by a few glass shards in the process, cursing every time. Eventually, though, he did succeed. Both of them then used their clubs to clean off the seats enough so they could sit down (which maybe he should’ve done first, now that he thought about it), then moved onto the second hole.

This would be his moment. Jack had no chance. Not when he really got into his zone. 

\--

Getting into his zone did not help.

7 holes later, he had landed in 4 different water hazards, and more sand traps than he could count. Luckily, he was a _ bit _less focused on his revenge now, because talking with Jack while they were playing helped him calm down. Maybe he’d be able to laugh about this later. Probably not.

“Yeah, Uncle Billy was a real bastard. Loved those trophies more than any of us. He polished them every day.”

Gabriel snickered. “I would’ve destroyed that case when he wasn’t looking.”

“And _ that _is why I never invited you to his house,” Jack said.

Unfortunately, it was probably time for Gabriel to stop stalling and take another swing. 

Trying to focus on his shot and do the technique Jack showed him a few holes ago (OK, maybe it was a good idea to actually listen to his advice), he hit the ball. It promptly flew straight into the woods.

He pouted. “I hate this. I want to go home.”

Jack laughed again; that kind of laugh that felt like you were watching his tough façade melt away and seeing the real him. The truth was, Jack had always loved to laugh. People had just taken that away from him. He liked to hope that he was helping Jack laugh more often.

_ You aren’t helping him. Stop deluding yourself. _On some level, he still knew this. After everything that happened, did he really think that Jack would see him as more than a casual friend? He wasn’t even a person anymore. Just a monster. Moira’s experiments had just made it more apparent what he already was inside. Nothing to indicate he was ever a person, judging by the way he looked and acted. With his body looking nothing like it used to, there was nothing that showed that his past even existed. Jack would never love something so—

“Gabe?” Jack waved his hand in front of Gabriel’s face. “Anyone in there?” He had hit the ball again without even registering it, with it landing on the green. A turn must have passed. His mind going on autopilot like that was probably not a good sign. He really needed to ask Jack about a shrink.

“What? Yeah. Just concentrated,” he lied.

“Good. Maybe you’ll do better. I keep saying you’re just not trying hard enough,” Jack said.

“Thanks for the life coaching, Boy Scout.”

“Less talking, more putting.”

Gabriel went for the putt. The fact that he had gotten on the green at all was a major achievement, and he wasn’t going to let that go to waste. Focusing, he put his legs the distance Jack had told him before, then swung. The ball hit the pin, then bounced back completely off the green. In the background, Jack was laughing.

“I hate this game,” Gabriel said.

“It’s fine. You’ll do great on the back nine!” Jack had already picked up his bag and started to walk to the cart, and Gabriel followed behind with his own.

“I don’t even know what that means, but I hate it.”

The back nine went a _ bit _better. He finally started to get Jack’s techniques, slightly. Oh, who was he kidding? It was still terrible.

When Gabriel finally got the ball into the 18th hole, Jack picked up the scorecards.

Looking at his own more closely, he said, “Let’s see, I got +4. Guess that’s alright.” He looked over at Gabriel’s. “And you got…+57.”

They stared at each other for a moment, then the two both started laughing. “Jesus Christ, I suck.” 

“You’re just a beginner. You’ll do great next time!” 

“There sure as hell will not _ be _a next time, Morrison. And I’m going to kill you for this someday,” Gabriel said.

Jack started to pick up his clubs, and Gabriel did the same. “Aw, c’mon, it was fun.” He grunted.

Maybe a little bit.

What wouldn’t be fun was paying for the golf cart. Gabriel dreaded the idea. His money was already tight enough. Paying for it might take out enough that he’d have to find an even shittier place to live. Oh God, he was so fucked.

Nervousness ate at him the entire time he and Jack walked back to the building for rentals. His stomach felt like it was eating away at itself, and for once not because of his appearance. There were ways he could get out of this, sure, but all of them were illicit, and Jack would certainly not be pleased with him if he did any of them. Fuck. He was trapped.

When they got to the counter, he started to open his mouth to explain himself. However, Jack stepped in front of him. “I accidentally broke the windshield of the golf cart. Here.” Jack handed the man at the counter his credit card, while Gabriel stared at him, mouth agape.

Jack started sorting out the details with the man at the counter, but Gabriel wasn’t even listening anymore. Jack saved his ass without any hesitation. And he didn’t even know how dire his monetary situation was. 

Eventually, Jack stopped talking to the man and gestured towards the door. Gabriel walked with him, still full of shock. “Why did you lie just to cover for me?” 

Jack looked over at him. “I was the one who brought you here. My responsibility,” he said, as if what he was saying was completely obvious. “Besides, that’s what friends are for, right?” 

Gabriel paused for a moment, realizing that he hadn’t even been paying attention to the crowds around him.

“Yeah. Guess it is.”


	4. July, Year 1

Gabriel scrambled to make his ugly motel look as presentable as possible. Out of absolutely nowhere, Jack had texted him saying he was coming over, and that he’d be there in a few minutes. Despite wracking his brain, Gabriel couldn’t think of any reason to convince Jack to meet up at Jack’s house instead. All he could do now was try to clean this place up.

With his continuing low mood, his efforts to clean up after himself had been...unsatisfactory, to say the least. There were bottles and wrappers everywhere, pizza boxes on the table that he hadn’t bothered to throw away, and he hadn’t done his laundry in weeks, so his dirty clothes sat in a neglected hamper by the wall. At least there weren’t any rats or roaches. As far as he knew.

As he was hastily throwing beer cans into the trash (screw recycling, he had more important things to deal with right now than the Earth), he heard a knock on his door. Fuck. He scrambled to the door, trying not to trip over the clutter, and opened it. 

“Hey,” Jack said. “Some lady outside offered me a ‘happy ending’. The hell does that mean?” God dammit, this fucking neighborhood. 

Gabriel considered going outside and giving the people outside a piece of his mind for bothering Jack, but decided he didn’t want to get into a fight with Jack here. “It’s nothing,” he said, trying to stand in Jack’s line of sight, so he couldn’t see the inside of Gabriel’s apartment.

Jack shrugged. “Anyway, can I come in?”

_ I’d really rather you didn’t. _“Uh, yeah. Sure.” Gabriel stepped out of the way. As Jack walked inside, Gabriel cringed, waiting to get insulted. They’d been doing so well at not getting into any fights, but Gabriel knew that if Jack insulted him, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from arguing. God damn pride.

However, Jack didn’t say anything about the place at all. Instead, he sat down on the couch, not acknowledging the mess around him.

Maybe not everyone was so judgmental.

Lost in thought, Gabriel barely heard Jack when he started to speak. “So, I wanna do something with you. Figured it’d be easier to convince you in person.” Jack chuckled. 

“If we’re fucking golfing again, I swear to god--”

“No, not that.” Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out a flyer. “Got a VR game on the other side of town. Like a video game, but in real life. It’s a shooter, and you play against other people. You in?”

At least it wasn’t golf. “Yeah, sure. Why would you need to convince me about that? I’m not _ that _antisocial.” Jack stared at him, as if doubting that statement. “Fuck you.”

Jack laughed. He hesitated for a moment. “Thing is, there’ll be a pretty big crowd there.” Shit. “Know you have a thing about crowds, but I want to help you. And we can have fun.” Gabriel looked away, not sure how to refuse. Was there any excuse he could find? “You used to be way better at lying, Gabe.” Oh, fuck off. 

Gabriel sighed. “I dunno, Jack.” He didn’t express how weak he felt for not being able to do such a simple thing. Can’t be _ too _vulnerable. 

“C’mon. You can keep your mask on.” Gabriel hadn’t worn his mask when he and Jack were alone in a long time, but exposing his face outside was something he wasn’t ready for. Probably something he’d _ never _be ready for. 

“It’s not that easy,” Gabriel said.

Jack didn’t seem deterred. “Have to try, or you’ll never get past the fear. Please? For me?”

Damn. “You know I can’t say no to your puppy-dog eyes, asshole.” Gabriel sighed. “Fine. I’ll play your stupid game.” Jack’s face lit up. Ugh, that was cute, and he hated it.

Jack picked up his keys. “Let’s go.” He paused. “Uh, what should I say if the lady is still outside?”

“That you’re as gay as Lady Gaga performing Broadway standards in front of a rainbow flag.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Jack asked.

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “God, you need to get laid. Come on.” Gabriel put his mask on and walked towards the door, and Jack followed.

This was probably a bad idea.

\--

When they arrived at a large building with a neon sign that said ‘_ EXTREME VR _’, there was just as much of a crowd as he expected. The building was right next to the mall, meaning people both going shopping and playing could stare at him. He already felt his breathing picking up.

Apparently, Jack noticed, because he patted Gabriel on the back. “You can do it, Gabe. I got you.” Slowly, the two got out of the car. By now, Gabriel was clutching his mask, paranoid that it would somehow fall off and reveal how disgusting he was.

As they walked towards the building, Jack stayed at his side. It reminded him of when Gabriel was injured on the battlefield, and Jack would guard him from any further harm when they walked back to base. God, this wasn’t a fucking war, it was just being outside. He was so pathetic. “Almost there. Crowd will be thinner once we get inside,” Jack said. He had always been pretty good at comforting people, hadn’t he? Even if he resented being coddled, it still made him feel a bit calmer.

They entered the building, and Gabriel exhaled a breath that he didn’t know he was holding. There were still plenty of people here, but it was at least slightly fewer. 

But...it was also getting a bit easier. He had Jack at his side. For now, someone was protecting him. Deep breaths. He could get through this. Jack’s optimism had rubbed off on him a bit, hadn’t it?

Although Gabriel was initially concerned that they’d have to wait a long time (and he certainly didn’t want to spend much longer in this lobby), Jack had a reservation. Thank Christ. The woman at the counter gave him a strange look when he paid. Hm? Gabriel looked around, and realized most of the people around him were at least 30 years younger than he was. Jack was such a kid. 

Once he turned around and handed Gabriel a pass, Jack squeezed his shoulder. “You doin’ alright?” Gabriel nodded. He wouldn’t call it ‘alright’, but it was at least better than he expected. “Good. It’ll get easier once we start playing.” 

When Jack comforted him that way, though, something happened. He realized that he wasn’t shaking anymore. He looked around and saw that all of the others were focused on their own conversations, not interested at all in judging him. None of them even looked his way. At least with the mask on, maybe he wasn’t such a freakshow. And even if he was, why did their judgment matter, anyway? He had someone on his side, no matter what. It wasn’t only him in his fight against the world anymore.

After that moment, things weren’t so bad. There was still a bit of nervousness, and he panicked slightly when he bumped into someone (who, luckily, didn’t seem to notice at all), but he wasn’t breathing that hard anymore. His hands weren’t balled into fists now. Every time the anxiety started to build up again, he would look over at Jack, and see how excited he was. He was lucky Jack couldn’t see his expression behind the mask, because Jack’s goofy smile was a bit contagious, and managed to make him smile, too. Not that he would ever say anything that corny out loud. 

Before he knew it, it was time to enter the game. The employee read off the rules to them as they entered a large room with headsets and fake guns in it. There was a familiar choice: an artificial shotgun. He picked it up instantly. It wasn’t as good as one of his babies, but it would do. “I know you’re all untrained, so you need to hear these instructions,” the employee said. Oh, yeah. He and Jack had a bit of an unfair advantage, didn’t they?

When the game started, Gabriel took in the virtual surroundings. It was a wide area; he couldn’t see the entirety of it even from high ground. Designed like dilapidated city, there was sand around, with roads and buildings that were broken in several places. There were also small wooded areas nearby, and several high hills. He had to admit, the aesthetics were pretty impressive. He identified the areas of cover around him. Those would be perfect for being sneaky, which was a requirement with a short-range weapon. Oh yeah, this was getting him right into battle mode. This feeling always gave him such a thrill. Maybe he was taking this slightly too seriously, but he was having fun, damn it. 

At the very beginning of the game, Gabriel saw a teenage girl walking down the virtual road a bit aimlessly, and knew a perfect target when he saw one. After wraithing behind her (it wasn’t cheating, he was just using the advantages he had. Besides, if his body was fucked up, he had the right to get some enjoyment out of it), he got close enough, and shot her point-blank. Her body fell down and faded away, and he laughed. “Dumbass.” Maybe he shouldn’t have said that aloud. Oh well. She was asking for it. 

It turned out that he and Jack didn’t just have a _ bit _of an advantage; they were completely stomping on the poor teenagers and twenty-somethings, who all looked bewildered at the sight of these two old men who kept shooting them down over and over. Every time they respawned, either Gabriel or Jack would just eliminate them again. Between the two of them, the other players must have fallen up to 10 times each. He was pretty sure he’d shot one guy at least 9 times. Over and over again, the small score tracker he had on his gun would beep, and the number would go up again.

Soon, Gabriel was at 48 points, and Jack at 49. 50 was the goal, wasn’t it? Gabriel had gotten bored beating up on these kids (actually, it was hilarious every time, but he had bigger fish to fry). He sought to find Jack. The two hadn’t gotten into any direct confrontations yet, and Gabriel knew it’d be easy for him to get two kills on Jack before Jack got one on him.

After a few moments, he saw Jack near an area of trees. He had his back turned. Perfect. Gabriel’s ‘special abilities’ allowed for very quiet footsteps, so he managed to sneak up on Jack, then use the virtual shotgun to land a perfect hit. 

Jack fell to the ground, and he realized something: this looked far too much like Cairo. Luckily, nothing came out but a bit of unrealistic-looking blood, but Jack’s body still crumpled on the ground. Oh god, was Jack okay? It wasn’t possible for Gabriel to actually hurt him in the game, right? No. Of course it wasn’t. That didn’t keep his fear down, until he suddenly felt a blow from behind, and heard, ‘MORRISON WINS’.

“You _ fucker. _” When they took the VR helmets off, he saw Jack laughing next to him. 

Jack had a wide smile on his face. “Hey, that’s what happens when you get distracted. Respawned right behind you.” Gabriel crossed his arms. “Aw, c’mon. Know you’d do the same to me.” 

“Damn right I would.” Gabriel managed a laugh as well. Despite his distaste towards losing, he knew those devilish tactics were ones Jack had absolutely picked up from Gabriel. That gave him an odd sense of pride. 

The two walked out of the room and looked at the scoreboard outside. 

  * __MORRISON: 50__
  * _REYES: 49_
  * _ALEX: 7_

Whoops. They had destroyed those poor kids.

It was great.

“Hey, Jack.” He pointed below their names. “Look at how we fucked up these losers.” Jack snickered. At that moment, Gabriel saw an employee walking towards them.

“Do you two have some kind of training?” Er, well… “We received complaints about you having bad manners, as well.” Oh, please. If the kid didn’t want him to make fun of her after he shot her, she shouldn’t have been so easy to beat. “We’ll have to ask you to leave.”

Gabriel took a step towards the employee. “We paid good money for this shi--”

“Gabe, leave it,” Jack said in a low voice. “They’re just mad we kicked their asses. Only paid for one game, anyway.” 

Jack nodded at the employee, and started to walk towards the door, giving Gabriel his ‘don’t you dare start a fight’ look. Ugh, Jack could be such a square sometimes. 

When Jack had left the building, just before Gabriel exited, he flipped off the employee, hoping that she saw it.

Once they got outside, Gabriel shook his head at Jack. “You just let people walk all over you, Jack.”

Jack grunted. “Lucky I do that, or I would’ve told you to fuck off a long time ago.” Jack gave him a smug grin.

“I’d kick your ass for that if there weren’t so many people here.” When Gabriel said that, he realized something: so many people were here, and he hadn’t even thought of it since they finished their game. He had spent that short amount of time with no fear at all. As pathetic as he thought it sounded, this was a huge amount of progress for him. He couldn’t help feeling a bit proud of himself. 

“See? It’s not so hard. Told you, you look fine. Don’t think you even need that mask.” He felt an air of pride coming from Jack, as well.

“Hmph. You should feel lucky you’re the only one that gets to see my face. Think of it as a privilege.” 

Jack rolled his eyes. “Gee, thanks. Looks like you’ve still got that ego after all.” He laughed a bit. “You know, I gotta be honest. It’s really nice hanging out with you again. I missed this.”

“Jack, that was corny,” Gabriel said.

“Fuck me for trying to have feelings.” Jack shook his head. “Know you feel the same, or you wouldn’t have come here. You don’t fool me with your bullshit.”

“Just shut up and unlock the car, old man.” Jack did as he was told.

When Gabriel started to get into the car, he realized how good of a time he really did have.

Yeah, he had missed this. A lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was going through some serious writer's block but i broke through, woo!


	5. October, Year 1

Fall was in the air. The breeze was picking up, leaves were beginning to fall, and Gabriel was completely fucked.

His monetary situation had become dire. He didn’t have enough money to pay the rent this month, and it was only a matter of time before the landlord kicked him out. Maybe he should just kill him. No, killing wouldn’t solve this problem. Besides, if he killed someone now, the whole ‘redemption’ thing would be thrown out the window. Turns out being a good guy isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

He checked his bank account using the holo pad. $10.09. Shit.

Not only that, but he had discovered that having no money meant you couldn’t have any fun. There was no way for him to get anything for Halloween, or even to buy the supplies to make his own costume. He couldn’t indulge in any hobbies, really. 

This probably meant he would have to get a job. He’d been putting it off as long as possible, because most jobs would require him to show his face; not only that, but one look at his criminal record would destroy his chances pretty much anywhere. Was it time to assume a new identity? Sombra could probably help him with that. Or she could just delete his record. He was really going to have to go back to being a criminal, he supposed.

That illicit train of thought was interrupted by his phone going off. Here it comes. His landlord had never been particularly agreeable, so this text would probably be in all caps and contain many expletives. 

To his surprise, though, when he looked at the phone, there was no rant about how much of a freeloader he was. It was from Jack.

_ 11:02am Hey _

_ 11:02am Come to my house. Got a surprise for you _

A ‘surprise’? His last surprise had been the golfing. Gabriel cringed. 

Going to Jack’s house would be a good distraction, though. Running away from his problems had never worked in the past, but it was better than sitting here and wallowing. He’d sure as hell done enough of that in his life. 

_ 11:03am On my way. Better not be another fucking golf trip _

Sighing, Gabriel put his mask back on. He was really starting to hate wearing this thing. It had always made it hard to breathe, and now that he didn’t spend all of his time with it on, he wasn’t nearly as accustomed to it anymore. It wasn’t that hot outside, though, so he wouldn’t sweat out an entire ocean like he did during the summer. 

As he started to leave, he surveyed his apartment; one that he might not have for much longer. Even though it was shit, it had still become home, in a way. Of course, the mouse he had found last week would make him miss it a bit less. Still, it was better than not having anywhere to live at all. Would he have to beg for money on the street like a desperate hobo? Would he go as nuts as the guy who had continued to bug him about being the Grim Reaper? His future prospects looked terrifying.

Not being able to do much else, he opened the door and walked out. 

Maybe he could find a good box to live in on his way.

\--

The walk to Jack’s house wasn’t so bad. In the past few months, his nervousness around crowds had started to let up a bit. He still would absolutely never take off the mask, but if he was wearing it, he could even walk around without feeling like his heart was going to burst through his chest. The entire time he would stare at the ground like someone in an antidepressant commercial, but it was still progress.

When he knocked on the door to Jack’s house, he heard a bit of commotion inside. He heard the door unlock, but nobody came out. Confused, he decided to just open it himself. Hey, the door was unlocked. And he’d certainly trespassed into Jack’s living space before.

Jack was waiting for him inside, and he could hear several other people in the next room. What was going on? 

Jack handed him a balloon and gave him a big smile. The fuck?

“Happy birthday, Gabe.”

Wait. It was his birthday? He genuinely didn’t remember until now. He hadn’t thought about it in months.

“You remembered my birthday?” Gabriel asked, still in shock.

Jack nodded. “Hell yeah I did. Even convinced a few of our old friends to come celebrate.” Oh no. He really hoped no one started any shit with him. He would object, but he knew Jack would be excited at the prospect of having their old friends back. If he said anything, Jack would give him that stupid puppy dog face that made him do anything Jack wanted. “Couldn’t get the whole strike team, though. Torbjorn said he’d rather tear off his other hand.” Jack shrugged. “Made you a cake, too. Come on!” Jack guided him into the living room.

Gabriel still wasn’t sure how to react to this, but...whatever he felt about it, it meant a lot. Balloon still in hand, he walked into the room.

“Happy birthday, Gabe!” Lena smiled at him. It was nice to see her again, even if he wouldn’t admit it. Even better, the monkey wasn’t with her.

To the right of Lena, he saw Reinhardt and Ana. Without warning, Reinhardt ran towards him and grabbed him in a bone-crushing hug. Ow. “AH, GABRIEL! IT HAS BEEN A LONG TIME, MY FRIEND!” He shouted.

“You don’t hate me?” Gabriel managed to squeak out, even though it felt like his voice box was being crushed. Eventually, it started to hurt a bit too much, and he wraithed out of his hold. Reinhardt seemed surprised, but his smile didn’t fade.

Thankfully, his next statement was at a bit lower volume, but still louder than any normal person. “Hate you? No!” He seemed genuinely shocked at the suggestion. “Life is too short to hold grudges.” He patted Gabriel on the back, which nearly knocked him over, especially since the nanite form caused his body to be less dense. 

“He wouldn’t stop telling me how excited he was to see you again,” Ana said. “Not everyone is so judgmental, Gabriel.” How was she so good at making him feel dumb?

“Yeah, and I’ll keep an eye on you if ya wanna turn evil again.” He would recognize that stupid accent anywhere. McCree was here. They hadn’t been on great terms. If that cowpoke started any fights with him, there’d be trouble.

Still, it might be worth a shot to try to keep the peace. For now. It wasn’t  _ always  _ good to be confrontational. Just most of the time. Gabriel went to shake McCree’s hand. “I’ll try my best not to. Just don’t make me want to kill you.”

“As if he didn’t already when you were his boss,” Jack said.

“Oh, so now you’ve got a mouth on you, too?” McCree responded. The teasing was good-natured, though. Wow, Jack sure was more popular than Gabriel was. Probably because he hadn’t become a terrorist. 

Jack clapped his hands. “OK everyone, now that Gabe’s here, time for some cake. Grilled it myself.”

Ana stared at him. “...Jack, you can’t  _ grill  _ a cake.”

Jack stared back, looking bewildered. “Wait. You can’t?” Did he seriously not know that? “Oh. That might be why those black spots are there.” 

Ana sighed. “I’ll go to the store and get a premade one.” 

About twenty minutes later, Ana saved the day and came back with an (all-black; she really knew him after all) chocolate cake. To make up for his failure, Jack added a bit of decoration to it, making a (poorly drawn) mask and a “24” in vanilla frosting. 

“24? You ain’t foolin’ me into thinking he’s anything younger than 90,” McCree said. Gabriel flipped him off behind his back, hoping only McCree could see it.

“Don’t be a dick to him on his birthday,” Jack said, pointing a finger at him. “Besides, that’s not what that number means.”

“Ah, age is but a number, my friend!” Reinhardt said, giving him a thumbs up. That was what they said to comfort people in nursing homes. He was not old enough to be pitied, damn it. 

Still, after a bit more laughing at his expense, Gabriel managed to keep his spirits relatively high. Well, higher than they’d been recently, at least. The burning fear in the back of his mind about being homeless was still there, but he brushed it aside for now. Maybe he could sneak some of the cake away and eat that for the next few weeks.

When the others had their cake (there were two more pieces left, which wouldn’t exactly feed him for long, so that idea was out the window), they went into the next room and chatted amongst themselves, leaving only him and Jack. Jack started to walk onto the patio, and Gabriel followed. He could still use some company. “Hey,” Gabriel said, catching Jack’s attention. “Thanks for this. Nobody’s remembered my birthday in a really long time.”

Jack shook his head. “I remembered it every year, you know.” That was...kind of sappy, but really flattering. After a moment, the two of them both sat in reclining chairs next to each other. “Hey, why don’t you ever invite me over to where you live anymore?”

Gabriel scoffed. “It’s kind of a shithole, Jack.” Well, it wouldn’t be  _ his  _ shithole for much longer.

“Why do you live in that place, anyway?” Jack asked. Oh fuck. How could he get out of this one with his pride intact?

“Can’t afford anywhere else,” he said, hoping Jack wouldn’t hear him. “Won’t even be able to afford that soon.”

Jack looked at him, wide-eyed. “Wait. Where will you live, then?” 

Gabriel just shrugged.

“Why don’t you live here? Been roommates before.”

Wait. What?

“I don’t need pity, Jack--”

Jack groaned. “Gabe, I’m not letting my best friend be fucking homeless. Won’t take no for an answer.” Gabriel felt a warm feeling in his chest that he did  _ not  _ want to address right now. Shit, was he blushing?

“Alright, fine. I guess you need someone to fix your decorations anyway.”

“Wow. You’re welcome.” Jack shook his head.

Gabriel leaned back further into the chair, feeling a massive amount of stress come off of him all at once. Even if it wounded his pride a bit, it was a huge relief to not have to worry about living on the streets with the weird guy by his apartment. 

Well, it wasn’t the first time Jack had saved his ass.

\--

The next day, Gabriel and Jack moved Gabriel’s belongings into the house. Many people would feel sad closing the door to their former living space for the last time, but it made Gabriel want to celebrate. And he certainly missed it less when the tenant on the floor below his had his windows broken. 

Jack decided to remodel a bit to accommodate Gabriel’s things. Well, actually, Gabriel had decided that, because Jack’s house needed urgent help. It was incredibly bland. There was a couch, two chairs, a TV, and an obnoxious striped purple lamp in the living room, but none of them had any flair to them at all. Jack was not  _ this  _ much of a boring suburbanite. His wallpaper wasn’t even colored. It was just pure white.

“Jesus, this furniture weighs a ton,” Jack said, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

“It would probably help to only carry one at once. You’re not Superman.” Maybe SEP enhancements would be enough for this to not be a problem if Jack wasn’t trying to balance the TV on top of the couch without it rolling off.

“Maybe I am.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes.

In response to the relatively hot temperatures in the house and the weight he was carrying, Jack took off his shirt. Gabriel couldn’t help admiring his muscles as he worked, the way his biceps showed and his stomach tightened slightly…damn, he was still a strong man.

But more than that, he had exposed his pecs. God, Jack always had the best tits, and age hadn’t changed that. As he saw sweat dripping down the middle of his chest, Gabriel felt a sensation he  _ really  _ did not want right now: his pants were tightening.

It’s just a normal thing, right? Getting excited seeing a muscular man. A lot of people do it. That doesn’t mean anything. Just a natural reaction. Nothing personal.

Those were his thoughts as Jack turned and faced him. He looked away _ . Smooth.  _ Unfortunately, looking down just exposed his gaze to Jack’s legs, with his shorts showing off his calves and half of his thighs.  _ Who even wears shorts that short?!  _ “Everything alright, Gabe?”

“What?” He forced himself to look up. “Yeah. It’s cool.”

“Good. Almost done.” While still facing him, Jack stretched, putting his entire chest in Gabriel’s face. His pants were tightening further, and he knew he couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Hold on a second.” Gabriel rushed into the bathroom, hoping Jack didn’t have any suspicions.

_ This is wrong. This is so wrong.  _ Gabriel thought, as he dropped his pants, revealing his hardened dick.

After taking his boxers off, he started stroking.

He imagined him and Jack sitting up in bed together, Gabriel stroking Jack’s nipples. They would be rock solid at that point, as Jack let out a moan filled with need. As he rubbed Jack’s pecs, gripping his nipples and lightly tugging on them, he’d whisper “Good boy.” in Jack’s ear, while biting Jack’s neck. Ugh, he loved seeing Jack completely submit to him like this. Watching this big and strong man turn into putty in his hands was so erotic, and it drove him fucking insane. God, he wished he could go out and do it right now.

After lubing up Jack’s hole, he’d move his hands down to Jack’s hips, giving himself a better grip when he shoved his cock inside. Hearing Jack cry out would be enough to nearly come right on the spot. But oh no, he wouldn’t do all the work himself. He’d make Jack ride him, feeling the velvet heat of the inside of Jack’s ass move up and down his cock. Jack would have to work for it, and he’d be completely willing to do so. 

In his fantasy, he started to rub Jack’s cock, lightly enough to not let him come too quickly. Couldn’t let the fun end so fast, after all. He was trying his best not to grunt or moan too loudly, but knowing that Jack was in the room next to him and could hear him at any time only turned him on more. Jack’s sounds would grow in intensity to and become near squealing, as Gabriel grabbed onto his asscheeks and dug his fingers into them. He was panting at this point, near orgasm.

When he imagined Jack begging him to fuck him harder, that was enough to push him over the edge, and he came on the bathroom floor. Fuck, he forgot to put down a towel. Now he’d have to clean that up. He picked up a towel from the side and started to sweep cum off the ground, still panting. 

“Gabe? Where’d you go?” He heard from outside.

“Just washing my hands,” he said through the door.  _ Washing my hands. Great excuse. Didn’t I used to be smooth or something?  _ Oh well. Deciding to just go with it, he turned on the faucet. Actually, it probably would be good to wash his hands, so Jack wouldn’t see the semen on them. 

Well, maybe if he walked out with cum on his hands, Jack would want Gabriel to jerk him off. No, stop being delusional. He doesn’t want you. He never would. Not when you look like this. 

Sighing, he scrubbed the last of the liquid off his hands, then walked outside as if nothing had happened. He hoped Jack wouldn’t ask why ‘washing his hands’ took so long. When he saw Jack, his gaze instantly turned to his ass, and he was reminded of his fantasy again. 

God fucking damn it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this isn't the only smut, i promise


	6. December, Year 1

Jack walked into the living room, where Gabriel was lounging on a loveseat. He had bought that to help add something interesting to Jack’s house, and found that it was actually incredibly comfortable. Since he had moved in, he had made it his mission to improve on this house every way he could. Not as if he had anything else to do; he spent almost all day at home. It made him feel a bit like a burden, but Jack didn’t seem to mind.

Talking to Jack was easy. Talking to others was the hard part. After spending so long not wearing the mask at all around Jack, his insecurities about his face felt like they might be declining ever so slightly, but he still had to come to terms with the rest of his body. Even if he somehow got completely over his deformed face, he’d still be a fucked up smoke monster, and his skin would still be partially gray. Going outside was still hard for him. Oh well. Maybe he was destined to just hate himself forever. 

Now that they lived together, Gabriel got to actually have fun for once. Just hanging out with Jack, watching TV, playing video games, the works. Only two months into living together, and they were already setting up traditions again. It was just like the old days. He was just a little uglier now. Also, Jack had money, and didn’t live near any crazy homeless people. Apparently he had a huge retirement fund. Gabriel hadn’t planned that far in advance. 

Of course, this also meant he had to deal with what he had finally managed to admit was an issue: his developing crush on Jack. The two had been through so much, and Jack was still willing to extend enough kindness to let him live here free of charge. And he was so fun to be around, too. It helped that he was also sexy as fucking hell. Gabriel regularly fantasized about holding and kissing him, which he _ absolutely _needed to stop doing. 

“Hey, Gabe. So, Christmas is in a couple days. Wondering if you wanna spend it together,” Jack said.

“Well, it’s not like I have anywhere else to go.”

Jack flipped him off. “Why do I let you live here again?” He shook his head. “Only even asked because I found something we can do. They’re doing the big Christmas tree lighting in town tomorrow, and I want to see it. It’s an old tradition for me. Humor me?”

Gabriel waved his hand. “Okay, fine, if you want us to be on a fucking Christmas card.”

“Remember that Christmas where we tried to make a card?” Jack said, smiling at the memory.

“Yeah, when we knocked Torbjorn the fuck out.” About a decade ago, Jack had tried to put plastic antlers on Gabriel for their Christmas card photo, and he threw them back at him. He had underestimated his own strength, though, and hit Torbjorn in the head, causing him to fall unconscious. Not at all surprisingly, that year’s group Christmas photo was cancelled afterwards. “That was fucking rich.”

“Sucks that I wasn’t allowed to laugh.” Considering Jack was Torbjorn’s boss, laughing at his pain would probably get him in trouble. 

“You were just always afraid of what people would think. You should’ve just laughed and dealt with the trouble later.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “Yeah, ‘cause that always worked out so well for you.”

“When did you get a smart mouth?”

“You calling me dumb?” 

Gabriel snickered. “If the shoe fits…” 

Jack kicked Gabriel’s chair; the force of it caused Gabriel to tumble out of the chair entirely. It didn’t really hurt, but it was the gesture that mattered, damn it. As Gabriel looked up from the floor, Jack held out his hand to help him up, but was clearly laughing. “You had that coming and you know it.”

He absolutely did, but still. “Asshole,” Gabriel grumbled, but he couldn’t keep down a smile. 

Gabriel had nearly forgotten what it was like to be able to be _ himself _around someone. Being able to express himself and be accepted. Even the less pleasant parts of him.

Going to Jack’s corny Christmas bullshit was the least he could do.

\--

“You know, I’ve never been to one of these before.” The crowds at the lighting ceremony were mostly small. That was good, because it was taking a lot of Gabriel’s strength to not start panicking. He and Jack had found a somewhat more secluded area near the woods, where there were much fewer people than there were closer to the tree. They sat down on a bench, with Jack holding a beer.

Jack cocked his head to the side. “Really? This was such a big event in Indiana.” He took a sip of his beer. “Whole town would come out and watch, then we’d have a party. Not an actually fun or crazy one, though.”

“So no cow-tipping?”

“There was never any fucking cow-tipping.” He rolled his eyes. “Everyone would drink eggnog, and we’d talk about togetherness and shit. My uncle Jeff got drunk as fuck there once and started pissing on the tree. Got himself banned from next year’s lighting. Dumbass.” He laughed.

A somewhat wistful feeling hit Gabriel, as he was reminded of just how close-knit Jack’s community always was. “Kinda wish I had stories like that. Don’t think I even knew any of my uncles.” Did his family even spend Christmas together? He didn’t remember anymore.

“Not missing much. All of mine were bastards. My uncle Barry hit me with his prosthetic leg once.” Jack cringed.

That actually sounded like it was hilarious, but Gabriel kept that to himself. “Still, it sounds like you had more fun than me. Only family I had were my parents and my _ abuelita _.” Grimacing, he said, “Always hated that hag.” The most recent memory he had of her was her running over one of his video games with her car because she said he was ‘too addicted’. Good fucking riddance.

“Yeah, we were all pretty close. The families always stuck together. Should’ve seen our Thanksgiving.” Gabriel tried to picture a bunch of rednecks that all looked like Jack in one place. That experience was just entirely different from his own. Even though he was sure he would find them annoying if he had been in Jack’s position (especially Uncle Billy), that kind of togetherness was something that he envied. “Don’t know, growing up without a family sounds kinda lonely when I think about it. Was it?”

“I don’t know, Jack. I’m not 10 anymore,” he responded, avoiding the question.

“Do you ever answer questions like a normal person?” Jack said, sounding a bit exasperated.

“Okay, fine, Dr. Morrison. I didn’t know I was at my therapist’s.” He looked downward. “Sometimes. I never had a lot of friends as a kid, so I could’ve used the company.”

“Can’t imagine why. Girls used to love emo kids when I was growing up.”

“Ugh, shut up.” Gabriel lightly smacked the back of Jack’s head.

Their recent conversations reminded him of some of the ones they had when they were younger, as if they were re-learning each other’s lives. Almost like starting over. After being apart for so long, it felt like they still had a lot to catch up on. These details about Jack’s life were like little reminders of how they became close in the first place, similar to the memories triggered by looking at photographs. It was strange to feel like he already was close to him but still be learning who he was, like some kind of prolonged déjà vu.

Jack looked at the sky. “Glad I could be your friend, then.”

“Jack, that was kind of corny.” It seemed like Jack was getting soft sometimes, but maybe that was for the best. Gabriel noticed that he seemed happier that way.

“Been doing that a lot now that I’m older.”

“Your big fucking army tough guy act never fooled me, Strike Commander,” he said, mocking the entire concept. Thinking of Jack as Commander Morrison was just so odd now. He had seen this man at his lowest points, his most embarrassing ones, and at his very weakest. Not exactly that perfect pop star-style figurehead everyone thought he was for so long.

Jack grimaced at the title. “_ Please _ don’t call me that.” Oh, he had just found new ammo to annoy Jack with. He made a mental note of it. “You just don’t like feeling anything,” Jack grunted, taking a sip of his beer. _ Oh, if only you knew… _

A comfortable silence developed. Eventually, the massive tree lit up, a bright yellow covering the leaves and sending beams of light throughout the entire town square. Jack seemed genuinely mesmerized, looking at it with his mouth slightly open. Such a child. Still had that sense of wonder that Gabriel hadn’t had since before he was even a teenager. With this came a powerful temptation to rest his head on Jack’s shoulder. _ No. Fuck off. _Enjoying the atmosphere together like this was a special moment, and he ached to be closer and share it while touching him.

This was becoming a problem.

\--

Christmas day. He was too old for that childish excitement of Christmas morning, but clearly Jack wasn’t, because he looked like he was about to bounce out of the chair he was sitting in. God, he was such a cute idiot. 

“So, Gabe. You ready for the presents?” Jack asked. He wore a hideously corny Christmas sweater. Oh God. That needed to be thrown out immediately after today. “Not sure how much you’ll like it. But I wanna know already.”

Did he really think Gabriel was that much of an asshole? “Hey, give it a shot. I’m not gonna bitch about it if you were nice enough to get me something at all.”

“Okay.” Jack took a deep breath, then handed him a small box. He tore the wrapping paper to reveal many bottles of pills.

“Huh?”

“Heh. So, me and Angela have been working on this for a couple months.” He hesitated for a moment, as if apprehensive, but continued. “Me and the doc can’t figure out how to cure your condition, but there is something we managed to do. After some testing, we made this medicine that can help your face go back to the way it was before. Long as you keep taking it every day, most of the changes to your face should go away. Well, one of the rats we tested it on grew four eyes, but we fixed that side effect. I think.” He scratched the back of his head. 

Gabriel had no idea how to respond to this. His mouth was agape. On the back of the box, there was a small engraving that said, “Merry Christmas, Gabe. From Jack. :)”

“Jack…” His eyes were starting to water a bit. It didn’t look cool at all, but fuck it. He was happy enough that his image didn’t matter this time (which would probably be the only time).

“Oh God, don’t cry, did I—” Gabriel reached over and hugged him.

“Thanks.” He had to stop himself from showing anything else, lest he reveal some of his darker and more shameful emotions. Jack probably didn’t realize what he’d given him: it was a major step to not being a monster anymore. At least physically. Still working on the mental part. _ I could kiss you right now. _

Sure, his skin would still be gray, and there would still be smoke coming out of him. It was far from enough to keep him from getting stared at. But at least he could actually show his face around people and wouldn’t have to wear the god damn mask all the time. It would give him an identity (well, other than ‘serial murderer’).

Initially caught off guard, Jack put his arms around Gabriel and patted him on the back. “Merry Christmas, Gabe.”

Gabriel wiped his eyes. “Sorry. Lost my cool for a minute.” At least nobody else saw that.

Jack grunted. “It’s not bad to have feelings, dumbass.”

“Heh. Well, my gift feels kinda shitty now compared to that, but here goes. Gimme a minute.” He walked to the next room and opened the garage, picking a set of golf clubs he had been preparing. Luckily, Jack never went in there because he thought it was haunted, so it would still be a surprise. Hopefully.

When he came back, he started to explain the gift. “It’s some clubs. There’s a ‘76’ on it” -- he pointed to the number on the front -- “And all the clubs are the same color as your jacket.” 

Even though his gift was nothing compared to Jack’s, Jack still seemed excited. He picked up one of the clubs and admired it. Painting clubs was surprisingly difficult, but he had pulled it off. At least, he thought so. “These are fucking great. Gonna go to the range tomorrow.” He imitated a swing, which Gabriel had to duck to avoid. 

“As long as you don’t bring me with you, have fun,” Gabriel said. Jack’s smile was a bit infectious. Normally, he could keep a poker face, but right now he certainly couldn’t. He was going to have a normal face soon. He wouldn’t be nearly as hideous. Still kind of a nanobot abomination, but at least aesthetically better. He’d never have to wear the mask again, just like he wasn’t wearing it now.

Jack sat down on the couch, directing Gabriel to sit next to him. Gabriel followed. “Hey, remember the first Christmas we spent together? At SEP?” Jack asked.

“Yeah. And everyone got drunk as hell.”

“And you threatened to shove the star on the tree up Henry’s ass.”

“I still would. I’ll kick anyone’s ass who calls you a fag. Except I have much better weapons now, so they better watch out.” With how angry he’d been at the time, if he had his gun on hand at that moment, he certainly would’ve killed him. Idly, he wondered where his life would’ve gone if he had done that.

“That guy was such a dick. Didn’t he die in that fifth battle?”

“Hopefully.”

Jack went quiet for a moment. “Still gets to me sometimes how many civilians got killed that day.” That battle was near Denver; having a battle near a major city led to a huge number of casualties. Those were the kinds of thoughts he just tried to keep out of his mind, because he knew dwelling on it would make him go insane. Focusing on those things was always a problem that Jack had. Probably didn’t do any good for his mental state.

“We can’t save everyone, Jack. We’re retired, and I sure as hell don’t want to go back.”

“You ever regret going into this?” Jack said, with the vulnerability in his eyes suggesting that he had those regrets himself.

“Well, I definitely don’t like being a smoke monster,” he said flatly.

Although frowning a bit initially (he still did that every time Gabriel referred to himself as a monster, he had noticed), Jack managed a grin. “You’ll be a better looking smoke person soon.”

“You coming on to me?” He tried to keep a hint of desperation out of his voice. God, he wished.

“Got a huge boner for smoke, actually,” Jack said. Yeah. Because they were joking. Totally. Just a joke.

“You wanna fuck your grill?”

Jack nearly doubled over laughing at that. Gabriel wasn’t sure if he was _ that _funny. Jack was just easily impressed, he supposed. At least it distracted him from thinking about Jack with a boner, because that would activate a thought process he really didn’t need to have right now.

Sure, Jack would never want him the same way. Not even after fixing his face. Nobody would find a guy that was basically dead attractive, and they’d hurt each other enough that it was a miracle they were even still talking to each other. But at least he had a best friend again. He’d just have to spend all of his time pining like a 13 year old, he supposed.

Eh. Better than being alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just wanna give a special shoutout to anyone who comments on this or any other fic i write!!! :D i can't think of a response every time but i appreciate them a lot!!!


	7. January, Year 2

There was a spring in Gabriel’s step as he walked through the house on that cold Winter day. After only a few weeks of medication, his face looked almost entirely normal (and he still only had two eyes). There were quite a few scars on his face, but he could pass those off as typical military injuries. Nothing could keep him down. He decided that today would be the day he went outside without his mask.

Jack looked at him from inside the kitchen. “Are you _ whistling _? My God, what happened to my doom and gloom Gabe?”

Gabriel crossed his arms. “Hmph. I can be very cheerful, you know.”

“Maybe after you kill someone.” He laughed at his own joke.

“I’m guessing you think if you keep laughing at your jokes, maybe somebody else will too.” Prodding Jack was so fun. Secretly, he actually thought Jack was one of the funniest people he knew, but maybe that was just the stupid feelings talking.

Jack glared at him. “Behave yourself, or I’ll kick you out. Don’t test me.”

Gabriel scoffed, trying to ignore that Jack being rough with him was kind of hot. “What are you, my dad?” 

He rolled his eyes. “Sometimes I feel like it.”

Gabriel crossed his arms, looking away. Maybe he was like a teenager. “You just want to be everyone’s dad. Some kind of Oedipus shit.” 

Jack laughed. “Didn’t know you wanted to fuck me that bad.” Gabriel froze. Did he know?

He gave a nervous laugh. Just a joke, right? “I wouldn’t say no,” he blurted out. Fuck. Abort. He did not want to actually flirt with Jack like that. Jack looked surprised for a brief moment, and he _ swore _ it wasn’t his own wishful thinking when he saw a blush hit his face. Gabriel _ desperately _wanted to kill the awkwardness. Say something. Oh my God. “If you can still get it up, old man.” OK, decent.

Jack laughed, seemingly unaware of how terrified Gabriel was right now. “Not that old. Maybe soon.” 

_ Why don’t you show me? _He would’ve asked if he were still young and smooth. He was not. Instead, he decided that the best thing he could do is change the subject. 

“So…” He started, trying to avoid sounding awkward as much as possible. “I wanted to go outside today without the mask.”

Jack lit up, and Gabriel was sure that his subject change had been a success. Thank God. “That’s fucking great. C’mon, let’s go.” He started to pull Gabriel to the door.

“What, now?” Gabriel asked, not sure if he should stop him or not. He had hoped to get some time to prepare before leaving (but that was probably just an excuse to delay going).

Jack looked back at him. “No time like the present, right? Besides, you might pussy out if we don’t do it now.” Damn, Jack saw right through him.

So, Gabriel was essentially dragged to the door. He stood in front of it, taking a deep breath. His face wasn’t fucked up. He had put on sunglasses to avoid people seeing his red eyes. Nothing to be afraid of. It was difficult, though, after hiding for so long. Even without his facial deformities, there was a certain comfort in not showing his face. Having nobody see his expressions prevented him from being too vulnerable.

He considered just turning around and resigning himself to being a hermit. Then, Jack patted him on the back, nodding at him. Right. He could do this. If he didn’t have confidence, he could just leech off of Jack’s. Like some kind of parasite.

Opening the door was already intimidating, but he managed to do that. Closing his eyes, he stepped out of the house, and felt his breathing stop entirely. 

Jack lived in an area with more people than the area around Gabriel’s apartment (and less disgusting ones, too), so he couldn’t hope that no one would be there. When he looked outside, nobody stared at him. Although one could tell there was smoke coming out of him if they looked closely, his dense winter clothing covered his gray skin, meaning the only strange thing was his face...but not anymore.

The people continued about their days, not even looking in his direction. A woman was walking with her toddler (who was very ugly, in Gabriel’s humble opinion). Two teenage boys were kicking a soccer ball in the middle of the street, despite there being cars coming by. Not very intelligent. And none of them were staring at Gabriel. None of them thought he was a freak at all.

He froze when a man looked in his direction, but he only waved at Jack, who waved back. The man walked towards the two of them. “Hey Jack. Who’s your friend?” He asked, looking at Gabriel, who was thankful that his sunglasses kept from the man from knowing he was looking in any direction _ other _than at the person talking to him.

“This is Gabriel,” Jack said. When Gabriel didn’t respond, still frozen in place, Jack elbowed him lightly. Gabriel shook his head, returning to reality.

“Hey,” he said, with a weak wave. He felt like a child on his first day of school. He had been a shy child (which Jack could not _ ever _know about), and this just reminded him of those days. But he was a grown-ass man now. No excuse. 

The man smiled at him. “I’m Patrick. You know, Jack, I always thought it was strange I never saw you with your husband. Nice to finally meet him!” Wait. _ What?! _

Panicking, he looked over at Jack, who had turned bright red. “Uh...yeah. He’s just kinda...shy.” That was a word for it.

Patrick chuckled. “Well, I hope I see him around now. I’ve gotta go pick up my kid, but I’ll talk to both of you later!” With that, Patrick walked away, leaving Gabriel shellshocked, trying not to let his mouth be completely agape.

Gabriel immediately turned towards Jack. “Why didn’t you tell him?” He wanted to be embarrassed, but the idea of him thinking he was Jack’s husband was...nice. Unfortunately. And the fact that Jack didn’t disagree left him more confused than ever.

“I panicked, okay?!” Jack whispered. 

“When did you get so shy?”

Jack scratched the back of his head. “Just thought it was kind of scary for someone to think something like that about the guy I like.” Both of them instantly froze.

The guy he _ liked? _

Jack looked instantly terrified. He laughed awkwardly. “Anyway, good job going out! Wanna go somewhere now?” Gabriel could see him shaking.

Gabriel knew this was his chance to make a move.

But he was still too scared.

“Uh...any errands you need to run? I could come with.”

Jack breathed a sigh that communicated intense relief. Gabriel almost instantly regretted his decision. Looks like both of them pussied out after all.

If Jack even meant anything romantic by that. He knew the idea of Jack having those feelings for him was ridiculous, but he couldn’t possibly come up with what that moment could’ve meant if it wasn’t a sign of romantic feelings. Maybe Jack was just concerned because the two of them only had each other as friends. But maybe…maybe he returned his feelings. Maybe they could make something of this. Maybe they--

“Gabe?” Jack said, snapping his fingers in front of Gabriel’s face. “You OK?”

“Oh. Yeah. Just...distracted.” He chuckled, trying to keep his cool. Was he really going to waste this chance? Was he going to just drop this? 

“Cool. Asked if you wanted to go to the store with me.”

He at least resolved not to confess in public, but he knew that was just an excuse to not do it at all.

“Yeah. Let’s head out.”

What a coward he was.

\--

A few days passed, but Gabriel couldn’t get what happened out of his mind. His stupid mind would not _ shut the fuck up. _ Every time he was with Jack, there was a small voice in the back of his head screaming _ kiss him, tell him, _ and it didn’t go away. It didn’t even go away when he tried punching himself every time the thoughts arose. All that did was add physical pain to his emotional desperation. Ugh, he hated himself for even _ thinking _that. What was he, a bad poet?

One day, heavy snow started to fall. It would’ve been a blizzard if there had been any wind. It might have been peaceful and refreshing if it wasn’t so fucking cold. For once, he didn’t want to go out for a reason other than a disfigured face. He had no desire to engage in the testicle-shrinking cold.

After a few hours of being cooped up in the house, Jack shook Gabriel. “Come on. Gonna show you something.” He walked into the kitchen, approaching the back door.

Gabriel groaned. “Do I have to? It’s fucking cold, Jack.”

“Yes, you do,” Jack said. “I’ll make you.” He opened the door, letting the cold air inside. Fucker.

“Fine, you fucking sadist,” Gabriel grumbled. Jack laughed. He’d get him back for this later. Then again, that’s what he promised about the golfing, and he got a teenage girl crush on him instead…

Jack led him to the backyard, then took him further out. Eventually, Gabriel reached a clearing, and realized something: Jack had disappeared. What the fuck? Had that asshole left him out here in the cold as some kind of prank? He’d--

Gabriel’s internal rant was interrupted by something hitting him in the side of the head. It was cold, but it didn’t really hurt. What the hell was that?

He saw Jack a bit in the distance, laughing and holding a snowball. 

“Real fucking mature,” Gabriel said, glaring at him. This man was such a child. Well, two could play at that game. He wasn’t above being a child, too.

Gabriel moved his hands downward and formed a snowball of his own, much larger than the one Jack had thrown. Go big or go home. He wound up, then threw it straight at Jack’s stomach. Apparently he had made it a bit too large, and underestimated his super soldier strength, because that made Jack recoil and fall over.

He ran towards Jack. If he somehow injured him with a fucking snowball, he would be really pissed. However, when he got to him, he saw that Jack was laughing. A devilish grin hit Jack’s face, and he abruptly pulled Gabriel down with him, who landed face-first in the snow. Jesus, that was cold. His nose was gonna fall off by the end of this. 

“I just got a face that wasn’t hideous, asshole. Don’t ruin it,” he said. Jack was still laughing. The fact that he was basically a little kid on the inside was so disgustingly cute. 

All of his thoughts were interrupted when he realized he was laying almost on top of Jack, who had a goofy smile on his face. “Missed doing this, y’know.”

“What, getting a face full of snow?” Gabriel said, being intentionally dense.

“No, dumbass.” Jack rolled his eyes. “Fucking around with you like this. Went five damn years without it.” 

The combination of statements like that and how uncomfortably close his lips were to Jack’s made the blood rush to his cheeks. Damn, Jack’s eyes were nice. That blue suited a pretty boy like him. Even with the new scars and cynicism, he was still that same naive farm boy that was perfect at smiling for the cameras. And God, did he love it.

As he watched the snowflakes hit Jack’s face and melt away, Jack slowly took Gabriel’s sunglasses off for him. “Still got nice eyes. Red or not.”

Gabriel scoffed. “You just have low standards.”

He smiled at Gabriel. “Maybe.”

That feeling in his chest came back. The bright, warm feeling, one he hadn’t allowed himself to experience in so long. All of that affection towards Jack that he had built up for months had grown to a deep desire, as the warmth became so strong that it was almost painful to not express it. Fuck it. He was going to go insane if he didn’t take this chance now.

He put his hands on Jack’s cheeks, and they both pulled in for a kiss.

The spark of passion that he had fantasized would come from kissing Jack was much stronger than he could have ever imagined. There was no holding back now. So, he grabbed the sides of Jack’s head and pushed his tongue into the other man’s mouth. Jack returned with equal force, tenderly putting his hands behind Gabriel’s head. Kissing Jack was a unique experience – he put so much intensity behind it, expressing as much affection as possible in the short period of time it offered. Always a damn overachiever.

As Gabriel put his hands in Jack’s hair, Jack worked his hands down Gabriel’s sides, tongue moving along with Gabriel’s. Jack’s lips were soft, and his mouth was so warm. Even in the icy chill, Jack’s body heat kept him feeling completely satisfied. After years of being cold and essentially dead, Jack made him feel _ alive. _Jack’s warmth felt like a perfect contrast - like they perfectly suited each other. 

Finally, their lips parted.

Jack brushed some of the snow off Gabriel’s face. “We should probably get up.” 

Gabriel smiled at him. “Yeah, I feel like my face is going raw, so maybe.”

Gabriel lifted himself off of Jack, who got up as well and put his arm around Gabriel. The falling snow created a picturesque scene for the beginning of their romance. “This is like one of your dumb telenovelas,” Jack said, chuckling.

“Those are fighting words, Morrison.” He smacked the back of Jack’s head.

Jack rubbed the top of his head. “Ow. Way to ruin the moment, dickhead.” 

“You were asking for it. Now can we get the hell out of here?” Gabriel asked. “I can’t feel my hands even with gloves on.”

“It’s not even that cold, you wimp.” Tch. Damn midwestern ass.

Gabriel put his hands in his pockets, trying to alleviate the chill even slightly. “Excuse me for not being from a place where it’s fucking freezing in winter. How did you even live in Indiana? Did your cows exude that much heat?”

“Fuck off with the God damn Indiana jokes.” Jack never seemed to appreciate when Gabriel insulted his birthplace (which just motivated him to do it more often).

As they got up, Gabriel held his hand out, and he and Jack’s hands clasped together. Making sure to put his sunglasses back on (if he forgot those in the fucking snow, he would absolutely kill Jack. Those things were fucking expensive), Gabriel started walking back to the house with Jack. Jack pushed his head closer to Gabriel, rubbing against his shoulder. “Get off, you’re not a fucking cat,” Gabriel said. Jack laughed. It was so nice to have someone that didn’t get offended by his ‘rough edges’.

They walked back to their shared home (it still felt great to think about the fact that he and Jack really lived together), Gabriel had a realization similar to the thoughts that he had in Overwatch -- even though the world might be shit, and life really sucks sometimes, at least he had this. And that was something he’d never let go of again.

Although he might put a rock in his next snowball if Jack threw another one at his head.


	8. March, Year 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is straight-up porn and that's ok

Gabriel and Jack sat on the couch watching TV, with Gabriel having his arm around Jack. Two months had passed, and he still couldn’t believe that Jack was really his  _ boyfriend  _ now. After everything that happened, he felt thankful everyday that Jack had given him a chance at all. Getting to hold Jack like this was something he thought he’d have to sacrifice forever.

..Dear God, was he getting sappy. Old man must be rubbing off on him.

He saw Jack look outside; now that Spring was coming on, the leaves were starting to return to the trees, and it wasn’t balls cold outside anymore. Jack looked at him. “Hey, Gabe.”

“Yes,  _ anciano? _ ”

Jack glared at him. “First of all, I looked up what that means, and fuck you. Thought you were giving me a cute Spanish nickname. Shouldn’t have trusted you to do that.”

Gabriel snickered. He had wanted to see how long he could get away with calling Jack that. Even though it was a shame he couldn’t anymore, getting a reaction out of Jack was always worth it. “Not gonna call you some corny shit like some Latin loverboy. Maybe 30 years ago.”

“Sometimes I miss when you were smooth and nice,” Jack said. “Anyway, now that it’s not shitty outside, I wanted to show you something. C’mon.” Jack walked towards the back door; Gabriel followed, and the two moved onto their lawn. 

It was nice to wear shorts and a t-shirt instead of anything heavy. Now that it wasn’t as cold and he didn’t have to wear the heavy mask, he finally remembered what it was like to not feel suffocated all the time. 

Jack tracked past their lawn and into a wooded area behind their house. With the leaves having returned to the trees and some flowers blooming different shades of purple, yellow, and red, this was the most pleasant part of the area during this time of year. As they reached a clearing, Gabriel saw something bizarre: a couch, in the middle of the trees. It wasn’t someone’s tossed out furniture, either, because it wasn’t dirty and looked well kept.

“Found this place a while ago. Not sure who even put this here, but I added some stuff to it and made it my spot,” Jack said. He sat down on the couch.

“You sure that thing’s not covered in bugs?” Gabriel said, inspecting it for whatever creatures may populate it.

Jack grunted. “Seems fine to me. Don’t be a pussy.” Not wanting to be a pussy, Gabriel took a seat next to Jack. 

“Did you really bring a whole ass couch out here?”

Jack nodded. “Yep. Look out there.” He pointed onto the horizon. In this spot, Gabriel had a unique view of the area in which he could see all sides of the street, as well as down the sidewalk of a nearby neighborhood. “Just like watching people and their daily lives. It’s nice.”

“You really are an old man,” Gabriel said.

“Sure am.” Uninterested in Gabriel’s snark, he continued. “Whole place has always made me feel relaxed. It’s a good spot to just think about shit, or enjoy the nice weather.”

“Yeah, well, it’s pretty enough.” It really was a cute place. He could envision hanging out here a lot in the future. Just lounging here with Jack would be nice. Maybe he could bring a book and relax with him. Honestly, he hoped that Jack could relax here, too. That type A ass was always so wound up.

Jack stared further into the distance. “Y’know, this place is kinda romantic, now that I think about it. Never brought anyone here, so I didn’t even consider that.”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “You trying to imply something, Boy Scout?”

“Only if you want me to.” Jack grinned.

“That was your plan all along, wasn’t it?” Did Jack really think he was slick?

“Shut up and kiss me,” Jack said. Gabriel obeyed, wrapping his arms around Jack and kissing his cheek. Even now, Jack still blushed a bit every time Gabriel showed him unexpected affection. Cute. “Looks like I finally got you to follow orders.” He’d get Jack back for that bit of snark later. For now, he didn’t want to ruin the moment. But Jack wasn’t satisfied so easily; he grabbed the top of Gabriel’s shirt and pulled him in for a deeper kiss, nearly knocking Gabriel over. Gabriel worked his hands up Jack’s sides. This reminded him of when they were young, and couldn’t get enough of each other; all he wanted was to be as close as possible, pushed against him, feeling the softness of his lips and the scars on his face.

“God damn,” Jack mumbled, as he held onto Gabriel’s hips. Gabriel kept feeling along Jack’s body until he noticed something: a sizeable bulge in Jack’s pants.

Gabriel smirked at him. “Got a little excited? Know I’m hot, but really.” He suspected his ego wouldn’t be the only thing being stroked today.

“Maybe I was already horny.” He paused. “Y’know, I keep a bag of stuff here.” He lifted up a camo-printed backpack. Reaching inside, he pulled out some lube. “Always prepared.” OK, he  _ definitely  _ planned this.

“Now this is how I know I picked the right guy.” He took the lube from Jack’s hand and put it down next to his side. Wasting no time, he unbuttoned Jack’s pants, feeling his erection through his clothes. The way Jack’s breathing picked up just from that slight touch turned Gabriel on so much, and his own cock started to stand upright.

He got a bit of pride out of the fact that he still knew what spots were Jack’s favorite - the best one was his inner thigh. As Gabriel lowered Jack’s pants to his knees, he rubbed along it, making Jack’s leg shake slightly.

“Ungh. Yeah, just like that,” Jack mumbled. Jack’s gruff voice was enough to almost make Gabriel lose control already. But he knew he had to be patient. Gotta do this right.

Jack reached into Gabriel’s boxers and rubbed the length of his cock, eliciting a grunt from him. “Oh, you fucker.” 

Jack grinned. “Can’t let you have all the fun, right?”

Moving his own palms to the front of Gabriel’s shorts, he undid the zipper and pulled them down, causing them to fall to his feet. Following suit, Gabriel pulled Jack’s pants the rest of the way down and pushed his shirt up, revealing a white tanktop underneath. The way that thin shirt showed off his pecs drove Gabriel insane. As Jack helped him slide the shirt all the way off, Gabriel licked Jack’s nipple, making him shudder. He noticed sweat dripping down Jack’s forehead, and pulled his underwear off, revealing his rock-hard cock. Jack pulled off Gabriel’s shirt as well, and Jack grabbed the waistband of Gabriel’s underwear and tugged them off.

That was an invitation if he’d ever seen one. Gabriel poured some lube onto his finger. Jack spread his legs, putting his hole on display; Gabriel licked his lips. Fuck, it felt good to know that was all his for the taking. He traced his finger over the top of Jack’s hole; he could tell that Jack was already trying to restrain himself from moaning, and they hadn’t even started the fun part yet. 

Gabriel started to push his finger into Jack’s hole. Almost instantly, Jack clenched slightly, and held onto Gabriel’s shoulders.

“Damn, you’re tight. Haven’t done this in a while, huh?” Gabriel hoped that didn’t sound like he was insulting him. In fact, that just made this even more exciting.

“Don’t get a lot of sex when you’re on the run and hiding your identity,” Jack said. 

Despite his hole tightening initially, Gabriel managed to push his finger inside, feeling around the spots he remembered were most sensitive. He delicately rubbed his finger against the nerves.

Cringing slightly, Jack managed to say, “Fuck. Harder, please.”

Gabriel chuckled. “Always been so impatient.” He kissed Jack’s forehead. Pushing his finger all the way inside, he continued to rub around the sides of Jack’s ass, feeling him clench against the touch. Jack’s breathing had started to become more labored. Perfect. If Jack hadn’t made it clear how much he wanted this, Gabriel could’ve easily figured that out on his own, as Jack continued to grip Gabriel’s back, hold getting tighter every moment.

Gabriel covered a second finger in lube and put it inside, a bit faster than the previous one. He felt toned legs squeeze against his hand. He pushed along the sides to stretch the hole, working him open, preparing him for what was to come. God, Jack’s ass looked so perfect right now. It looked even better than when they were younger. Temptation burned in his stomach as he thought about forgoing the foreplay and putting himself inside.  _ Hold back. Just a few more minutes.  _ He bit his bottom lip.

At first, he clenched a bit, but then Jack allowed Gabriel inside. Gabriel was panting himself now, watching Jack open up for him. Preparing to become his.

“Tell me how much you want it, Jack,” Gabriel whispered directly into Jack’s ear.

“So fucking much. Please. I’ll beg for it,” he said, grinding his cock against Gabriel’s stomach, clearly desperate for stimulation. Jack was so fucking hot when he was horny.

Gabriel smiled. “Have you been thinking about this?” He rubbed lube on a third finger, pushing this one inside with barely any hesitation. Sweat was dripping down Jack’s entire body as he sharply thrusted upwards.

“Every day. Even when we were fighting, I’d—” His sentence was cut off briefly by a moan—“Jerk off to you.”

He stored that bit of honesty for later, making a mental note to rub it in his face in the future. For now, he brushed his finger directly on Jack’s prostate. “What was I doing then?”

Panting throughout his sentence, Jack managed, “Ripping off my pants. Pounding me against the wall. Making me yours. God, fuck Gabe—please fuck me already.”

The desperation in his voice was enough to make it impossible to hold back any longer. Time for the main event.

As he withdrew his fingers, he felt Jack’s ass throb a bit. He looked disappointed, until he saw Gabriel rub lube onto his own dick, then rub the tip on the edge of Jack’s opening. He was just as excited as Jack was, precum leaking on the outside of Jack’s hole.

“Fuck. Put it in. I’m ready.” Wow. Age must have given him a bit more confidence.

But Gabriel was not going to disappoint; he started to push inside. Moving delicately at first, he added a bit more speed, bucking his hips into Jack. Jack groaned, moving his ass to accommodate for the dick now inside him. Gabriel placed a kiss on Jack’s lips, who grabbed the back of his head and put his tongue in Gabriel’s mouth.

Applying a bit more force, he made it all the way inside, feeling Jack push against him. Watching Jack attempt to get Gabriel’s dick inside with as much speed as possible, he felt the need in his motions; the feeling was mutual. He had been wishing for this for a very long time, and holding back was impossible now. With that, Gabriel started slowly moving back and forth. Jack whimpered slightly, leading Gabriel to hold onto him. “Shh. Don’t worry. This’ll feel good.” Jack looked at him and nodded.

Gradually, he increased the speed of his thrusts, feeling Jack try to push himself downwards onto his cock. He took that to mean he wasn’t going quite fast enough to meet Jack’s desperation yet. The velvet heat of the inside of Jack’s ass was definitely doing it for him, and he groaned as he felt Jack’s hole clench on his dick.

Finally giving Jack’s cock the attention it wanted, he started stroking upwards, gliding his fingers across the surface and slowing down near the tip, brushing over the slit. Allowing Jack to savor every moment.

“Gabe, you’re so sexy,” Jack said, struggling to talk between his own heavy breathing. “Wanna stay like this forever.”

Gabriel touched Jack’s cheek. “Anytime you want.”

Gabriel pushed in as hard as he could, thrusting deep into Jack’s prostate, balls slapping Jack’s ass. Jack’s moaning sounded more like shouting at this point. Letting himself completely give in to his urges, he nearly entirely pulled out with every thrust, then shoved all the way back inside. He had definitely used the right amount of stretch, because Jack was just tight enough that he squeezed on his cock but he still fit inside. Feeling Jack tighten as his firm ass moved up and down on his dick made him harder than iron, and the way he attempted to push himself further down every time Gabriel thrusted was definitely helping. A serious man like Jack giving into his base arousal like this was so goddamn hot.

He stared at Jack’s reddened face, seeing the desperation in those striking blue eyes. This man was beautiful, and all his. There was nothing that filled Gabriel with as much desire as seeing that pretty face cringing and shouting his name.

Gabriel kissed Jack on the lips again. Holding onto Jack’s hips for leverage, he thrusted further; as he stared at Jack’s pecs moving up and down, he knew he wasn’t going to last much longer.

He reached his mouth towards the side of Jack’s neck and bit down lightly; evidently, that was enough, because with one last jerk of his cock, Jack came, spraying all the way up to Gabriel’s chest. Hearing Jack cry out as he came was too much for Gabriel, too, and he released inside Jack’s ass; the two kissed as they rode out their mutual orgasms, trying to express as much affection as possible before it ended.

They slowed down gradually, and Gabriel eventually pulled out; he laid down on the couch, wrapping his arm around Jack’s side. 

“Jesus Christ, we have to do that again sometime,” Gabriel said, trying to catch his breath.

“Fuck yeah. Maybe inside the house next time,” Jack said, chuckling.

And that was how Gabriel learned that spot was good for much more than people-watching.


	9. May, Year 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> we're getting EMOTIONS up in here

Gabriel sat in the waiting room of the therapist’s office, trying not to fall asleep. This place was boring as fuck, and when he got bored in public, he started to notice how a few people were still staring at him. It was hard to keep at least a bit of smoke from coming out of him at all times. Now that his face wasn’t fucked up and he didn’t have to wear a mask and cloak, it was a lot easier to ignore, because at least he wasn’t getting stared at by  _ everyone.  _ But in enclosed areas, the smoke became a lot more noticeable for the people around him. At least it hadn’t set off any fire alarms...yet.

Of course, the reason he was here was important enough that he could deal with it. About a month ago, Jack had sought out therapy after years of hesitating. He had recommended that Gabriel try it as well, but how would a therapist ever understand being a smoke monster? That sure as hell wasn’t in the DSM.

After the first session, Jack had been a bit fucked up. Evidently, dealing with deeply repressed emotions was actually kind of upsetting. Who knew. Since then, Gabriel decided to be there for him after each session. He’d be damned if he was going to let Jack be alone when he was dealing with these kind of feelings. Jack would never let him go through that alone, after all.

After what felt like at least 20 years, Jack walked into the waiting room, looking a bit rattled (as usual). It was still a bit rough to see Jack clearly so afflicted. He knew it was for the best, and that it was helping him recover and have a happier future, but it activated his protective instinct. That was why he avoided talking to the therapist, in case he got the urge to punch him for making Jack upset. Hey, he hadn’t exactly been reasonable with emotions in the past. Old habits die hard.

“Hey,” Gabriel said. He got closer to Jack’s ear, speaking a bit more quietly, “You alright?”

It took him a few moments, but he eventually nodded. “Yeah. C’mon.” The two of them left the office; Gabriel tried not to be too worried.

As they walked through the parking lot, neither of them said much. When they both got into the car, Jack almost immediately started talking. “So, the doc suggested something.” He sighed. “This is gonna be a lot, but hear me out.” That didn’t sound good. Putting aside his misgivings, Gabriel nodded, encouraging him to continue. “Wants me to go to Zurich. If I did, would you come with me?”

Gabriel froze. Well, that really was a lot. Going there meant facing the worst trauma of both of their lives. Ugh, why did being healthy have to be so hard? “Are you sure you’ll be OK with that?” Gabriel asked, trying not to indicate that  _ he  _ might not be OK with that.

Jack chuckled. “Hell no. But I know I gotta do it anyway, or I’ll never get over it.” Gabriel was pretty sure neither of them would ever completely get over it, but he didn’t say that aloud and ruin Jack’s hopes.

As Gabriel started the car, he thought it over. Could he face the event that ruined his entire life for years (hell, in some ways it was still ruining it)? A part of him was telling him no. But at the same time, he also wondered if Jack could face the trauma, either; he didn’t think Jack could without his help. He sighed. The things he did for love. “Alright, I’ll go.”

Jack seemed pleasantly surprised. “Thanks. Seriously.”

Gabriel crossed his arms. “It better not be fucking cold there.”

“It’s May. Why the fuck would it be cold?”

It probably wouldn’t. He had just wanted a reason to ruin the moment. “You always try to make me go out in the cold.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “Do you ever stop complaining?” 

“No,” Gabriel said. He thought for a moment. Driving always helped make his mind more productive, no matter what he was thinking about. He smirked at Jack. “You know, I can think of a way you can reward me for coming with you.”

Jack cocked his side to the side. “How?”

Gabriel groaned. How did he not get that implication? “You are so dense.”

Jack paused for a moment, then said, “Oh.” 

“Forget it, my boner is gone now,” Gabriel said, sighing dramatically. 

“I’m sure I can find a way to make it come back,” Jack said.

Gabriel nodded. His dick was gonna be happy tonight.

Hey, if he’s gonna have a mental breakdown soon, at least he could have some fun first.

—

A few days later, they made it to Switzerland. They stayed just outside of Zurich, so they didn’t have to go into the city itself until they were ready. Of course, Gabriel would never really be ready, but…

Normally, international flights were long and boring for Gabriel, but he was too nervous this time to relax at all. He kept fidgeting in his seat the entire time, to the point that the person behind him asked him to sit still (and he flipped her off). 

Coming back here was addressing a lot of ugly thoughts and feelings he’d been trying to repress for a very long time. Fighting the thoughts like that wasn’t exactly healthy, but it was far from the worst thing he’d done to himself. A part of him was scared that being there would reawaken all of the rage inside of him, and make him lose the peace he had finally started to develop. Normally, he would never take that risk. But he had to be there to support Jack, because Jack had a lot at stake here, too. He had just started to slow down with his drinking in the past couple months, and this could easily bring that back. This was a terrible idea.

The morning after they arrived, they had spent enough time for ‘getting settled’ to be an excuse anymore. They had to go out into the city. Jack picked up his bag, and the two left their hotel, neither of them talking much. 

The streets of Zurich were the same as ever. Just as many people around. The restaurants and stores looked the same; he even recognized a few of them, including the one where he got kicked out for getting drunk and getting in a fight with a guy who insulted Ana. Jack was furious. It was infuriating at the time, but the memory was kind of funny now.

Gabriel had been wrong about the temperature; it was warm outside, but not too hot. A nice day to spend outside. Evidently, others agreed, because there were plenty of people out not doing anything specific. Just enjoying the weather and atmosphere. The kind of thing he almost never saw happen in LA.

The city had thoroughly moved on from what had happened at the base. It made sense; years had passed. Yet a part of him felt that it was unnatural. Such a massive event in the lives of him and everyone he cared about felt like it should’ve permanently shattered the entire world. But that was self-centered thinking, wasn’t it? 

It must have been obvious how lost in thought he was, because Jack squeezed his shoulder. Probably thought he was brooding. Was he? He couldn’t entirely tell. What he felt wasn’t pure misery or anger, but something more difficult to parse. Some part of it was regret, maybe a bit of anger, but there was also nostalgia there. There were a lot of nice memories here, even though there were an equal number of terrible ones.

He looked over at Jack, who gave him a smile. Right. He could do this.

One positive thing about the devastation to his body was that people rarely recognized him as Gabriel Reyes, even with his face being fixed. Gabriel Reyes didn’t typically have smoke coming from him or grayed skin, after all. Jack, unfortunately, was not so lucky, and it was clear he was conscious of it while he was here. Even if people had moved on from the presence of Overwatch here, they hadn’t entirely forgotten. How could they forget? He felt the hand on his shoulder tense; he nodded at Jack to show his support. Jack nodded back.

When people would look at Jack for even a second too long, Gabriel would give them a fierce glare, trying to communicate ‘mind your own business or you’ll regret it’. It worked every time, too, because they would immediately turn away. Luckily, Jack didn’t seem to notice him intimidating people; probably too focused on his own internal turmoil, whatever was going through his mind.

They weren’t too far away now from their ultimate destination: the site of the Swiss base. Jack stopped. “You OK?” Gabriel asked.

Jack paused, taking a deep breath. “...Yeah. Just trying to cope, I guess.” 

Gabriel looked straight into his eyes, which communicated a sense of fear. “You got this. We can do it.” Gabriel knew Jack could, but was pretty sure he himself couldn’t. He didn’t say that aloud.

Jack nodded. “Yeah. C’mon.” Both of them kept walking.

As they got closer to the old base, Gabriel tried not to let on that he was feeling afraid, as well. 

When they arrived, Gabriel noticed something: both of their graves had been removed. It made sense, considering the world knew they weren’t actually dead (well, ‘not dead’ was debatable in Gabriel’s case). Still, it felt strange to think about the person who had to remove that gravestone. He wondered if they felt like they were dishonoring something sacred, or if it was just another job to them.

In place of their graves was a large stone monument with text on it. Gabriel moved closer to read it.

_ IN HONOR OF THOSE THAT LOST THEIR LIVES, AND A REMINDER THAT WE CAN ALL BE HEROES. _

Underneath that was a list of all of the people that died that day. His stomach turned at the length of the list. There must have been dozens there.

If this monument was any indication, clearly public opinion on Overwatch had turned much more favorable. The new Overwatch must be going even better than he was aware of. Or maybe everything is just romanticized in hindsight. He thought about if some of the people that protested them constantly and sent Jack hateful letters were also honoring them now. That thought made anger course through him, which he tried his best to restrain.

He was distracted from his developing rage when he felt a hand brush over his own. Jack. Right, he had a reason to hold himself back now. Something more important than anger or revenge. He took a deep breath, and took Jack’s hand. Without a word, the two continued to walk through the site of the former base.

The rest of the site had few features; grass had grown over much of the area, and there was a small flower garden where the east wing of the building had been. He was a bit surprised that they hadn’t built anything over this site, but he supposed it made sense if he thought about it in the context of honoring the victims. Was he one of the victims that people honored, or were there some that had thought the world was better off without him, and had been disappointed to find out he was alive? 

He felt Jack release his hand. He looked over and saw Jack crouching downwards. Jack picked one of the flowers and put it in his bag. “Souvenir,” he said. “Just to remind me of what’s here.”

What was here was a sign that, for better or worse, the world kept on turning. No matter how important something was to them, the rest of the world would move on, even if they were affected by it for a long time. Even if life didn’t go on for them, it would for everyone that was still alive to see the next day.

When they reached where the center of the building had been, both Gabriel and Jack froze almost simultaneously. This had been where they’d “died”. Vivid memories came back to Gabriel of the pain of being crushed by the collapsed ceiling. The feeling of not being able to find Jack in the rubble, knowing that there was a high chance that he was dead. The moment of panic, for himself and for Jack. He got the feeling similar memories were coming to Jack, because he stared at the ground, not looking at anything specific.

Suddenly, Jack pulled him in for a hug. Jack buried his head in Gabriel’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry. For everything,” he said, somewhat muffled. 

Gabriel wrapped his arms around Jack. “I forgive you.”

They stayed like that for a while, trying to find comfort in each other’s hold. “Thank God you’re safe,” Jack continued after a short pause. “I’ll never let anything like this happen again. Promise.”

Gabriel gave him a small smile. “It wasn’t your fault, Jack.” 

Jack stared into the distance. “Wasn’t even just you, either. So many people died that day.” Maybe that memorial wasn’t helpful to Jack’s mental state. “Hard not to blame myself. Maybe I could’ve stopped it and saved them.”

Gabriel shook his head. “You had no way of knowing. And you can’t think that way. It’ll drive you crazy.” Wow, now  _ he  _ felt like Jack’s therapist.

Jack stared at the ground, not saying anything. Poor guy. Was this a bad idea? Jack reached down and put his hand on the grass, feeling along parts of the ground. All traces of the rubble were gone by now, no matter how deeply one felt into the grass. It was as if it had never existed at all. “Kind of...nice. Knowing people still care. Or at least act like they do.” He assumed Jack was talking about the monument. Gabriel was leaning more towards the second option, but he didn’t say that to Jack.

They explored the rest of the site of the base, but there was basically nothing else left. Just more grass, something that had grown over the wreckage of their old lives. Not even any sediment or dust remained; the cleanup had been thorough and effective. He supposed it did make sense, after so many years. They couldn’t leave it forever, especially not just for two people to come investigate it.

Eventually, Jack sighed and reached over towards Gabriel’s hand. They clasped together. “Think I’m ready to go.” He lifted his head up, looking Gabriel in the eyes. “Thanks. For sharing this with me.”

“No problem. Just to keep your dramatic ass from crying.” Gabriel grinned at him (as if he wasn’t just as at risk of crying as Jack was).

Jack rolled his eyes. “Almost forgot I can never have a nice moment with you around.” 

As they walked away from the place where the old lives had ended, Gabriel realized he felt better than he did before. Confronting these things really did help. 

He had managed to keep the monster inside him at bay, too.

—

On the last day of their Switzerland trip, Jack elected to go up into the nearby mountains. Their destination was one of the slopes that was well out of sight of the beaten path; they had used this as one of their private getaway spots during their days in Overwatch. The closest thing they could get to a vacation in those incredibly busy days was to come here and try to relax. As things deteriorated, they had started coming here less and less often. Returning felt like revisiting the parts of their old lives that  _ weren’t  _ shit. 

As they hiked through the area, the temperature started to go down. At this time of year, it wasn’t quite cold enough for there to be snow at this relatively low area of the mountains, but it was noticeably cooler here than at sea level. Gabriel had been prepared: he brought a jacket, but Jack hadn’t, despite Gabriel pressuring him to do so. So stubborn. It looked like Jack was chilly, as he crossed his arms at his chest.

They reached the small area where they used to hide away from the world, under enough tree cover that nobody would find them for just a little while. They had spent hours here just talking, learning more about each other every time. It was here, away from all of their obligations, that the real Jack would come out, one not constantly buried in stress and pretense. Nowadays, he saw more and more of that Jack, to the point that he was out basically constantly. His younger self would think this was only a pipe dream.

He could tell Jack was shivering now. Ah, fuck it. He took off his jacket and put it around Jack. Jack seemed caught off guard, because he recoiled slightly. “You sure?” Jack asked.

Gabriel sighed. “We’re not in the Arctic. It’s fine.” Of course, he knew the real reason Jack was surprised was that this extension of generosity was a far cry from their relationship several years ago. Even now that they were dating, he didn’t feel like he extended this type of kindness often enough. Well, maybe it was time to change that. 

Jack chuckled and didn’t argue any further, letting Gabriel put the jacket on him. He smiled at Gabriel. “Didn’t expect it to be this cold.”

“I told you it would be,” he said, trying not to lord it over him too much. No need to ruin the moment (for once). 

Jack zipped up the jacket; the two of them were a relatively similar size, so it didn’t squeeze on him too much. He looked around, then pointed at one of the trees. “Hey look, carving’s still there.” Years ago, Gabriel had carved a heart with “J + G” inside of it into a tree, like some kind of lovesick teenager. Sometimes he missed those days of whirlwind passion. Then again, it was nice to have a calmer life now. Much less stressful. Even though he was a fucked up monster.

“Remember when we tried to fuck under that tree?” Gabriel asked. It turned out that fucking in the snow was a bad idea. Who would have thought?

“God, I thought my dick was gonna fall off,” Jack said. “Would’ve been hard to explain that one to Angela.” 

Gabriel looked at the ground, remembering the bitter chill on his entire body. And how little he cared at the time. All he had wanted was Jack, no matter what it put him through. He wasn’t sure how they lost such an intense feeling back then. At the time, it felt like it could never end. It was a bit sad to think about something like that being torn apart.

He looked over at Jack again.

But he had it back now, and that’s what mattered.

Jack came towards him and kissed him on the lips. As he pulled his head back, he smiled, hands on Gabriel’s chest. “This place makes me feel like a kid again.”

Gabriel chuckled. “Only old people say shit like that, Jack.” 

Jack grinned at him. “I am your  _ anciano,  _ right?” He said, pronouncing it horribly wrong.

Gabriel grimaced. “Your Spanish is the fastest way to kill any moment.” Despite his terrible linguistic skills, Gabriel put his arms around Jack, kissing him. The two made out for a few moments; most of all, just enjoying each other’s presence. OK, maybe this place made him feel a  _ bit  _ romantic himself.

When their kiss finished, they continued to hold each other. Jack moved closer to Gabriel’s ear. “Thanks for coming with me. Means a lot,” he whispered.

“No problem. I’m here for you. Promise,” Gabriel said, allowing himself to be sincerely emotional for once. Maybe Jack’s increased sentimentality was rubbing off on him. Ew.

The two stayed like that for a while, holding each other, sharing in warmth and affection.

Gabriel realized he might be in love again. Fuck.


	10. August, Year 2

“You got time for us old men, huh? I’d love to, and I bet Gabe would too.”

Gabriel usually didn’t take too much interest in Jack’s phone conversations, because he was often just talking to one of his redneck-ass relatives about some farm thing, but hearing himself be volunteered for something caught his attention.

“Hell yeah, kiddo. Okay, sounds great. We’ll be there.” He laughed. “Sure I’ll get him to say yes somehow. Alright, bye!” Jack hung up.

Gabriel came up behind him, using his wraith form to stay quiet. “And what am I supposed to be saying yes to, huh?”

He jumped and tried to punch in the direction of the noise, narrowly missing Gabriel’s head. “Jesus! You need to stop sneaking up on me like that.”

Gabriel leaned onto Jack’s shoulders. “I would, but it’s pretty fun. Maybe you should pay more attention.”

Jack sighed. “Whatever. Lena invited to her summer trip in Hawaii, and we’re going whether you like it or not, so don’t bother saying no.”

“Since when were you the boss of me?” Gabriel said, pouting like a child.

Jack snickered. “Since I got promoted and you didn’t.” He opened his holo pad and started to search for plane tickets online.

Gabriel glared at him. “That was a cheap shot and you know it.” Although he wanted to argue further, he realized something. “Wait. Summer trip. Does that mean the monkey is coming?” He desperately hoped the answer was no.

Jack didn’t look up from the page with the flight listings. “Might be. Didn’t say. And if he is, you’re gonna be nice and we’re gonna have fun. Okay?”

Fuck. “Jesus, I didn’t know I was your kid too, Daddy.” It wasn’t that Hawaii didn’t sound fun. He had never gotten to go there before, and Ana was constantly talking about its beautiful sights. And spending time with Jack in a lounge chair by the beach sounded like bliss. It wouldn’t be too bad to have Lena around, either. The problem was that if he had to spend multiple days around Winston, he might end up trying to murder him. Again.

“Please don’t call me that ever again.” He made a mental note to call Jack that again. Jack turned around towards Gabriel and held his hand. “C’mon. It’ll be fun. We can have a nice vacation that doesn’t go to shit this time, and I like spending time with Lena, so be good. Please?” Ugh, he was giving Gabriel his puppy dog eyes again. 

Gabriel sighed. “Hmph. Only if we get to fuck by the pool.”

Jack grinned. “I’ll figure something out.”

He better live up to that promise.

—

When they met Lena at the airport, two others were standing with her. He recognized one as Emily, Lena’s girlfriend that she talked about all the time. Confirming his worst fears, the other one was Winston. God fucking dammit. Thank God he couldn’t take his guns on the plane.

Winston noticed the two men coming towards them. “Hello, Jack!” He said, smiling. Some other people around them turned towards the shouting gorilla in the middle of the terminal with confusion. God, he had finally started to avoid having everyone’s eyes on him at once, and now it was going to happen again. He felt a bit of anxiety build in him. At least they were more focused on Winston than him.

As Gabriel moved closer, Winston’s smile instantly faded. “Hello, Gabe.”

_ Do it for Jack. Have a fun vacation.  _ Reminding himself of that, Gabriel forced a smile, which he felt was almost physically painful. “Hey.” In his mind, he was setting Winston on fire right now.

Lena waved at them. “Dad! Gabe! Come here and say hi!’ At least when she shouted, it wasn’t at an earsplitting volume.

Jack lit up. “Hey, kiddo!” The two of them hugged. 

“Yo.” Gabriel waved, trying not to let on a bit of nervousness. He wasn’t sure how Emily would respond to his unusual appearance. At the moment, she didn’t seem to even notice, despite how incredibly obvious it was. He tried to restrain the smoke coming out of him as much as possible, mostly to avoid making airport security go after them. With his face fixed and not wearing the cloak or mask, people rarely knew he was Reaper, but the smoke might give him away. That would get ugly.

“How are you guys?” Jack asked.

“Great! This is gonna be wicked!” Lena said.

Well, might as well face the music now instead of dealing with it later. He was sure his fucked up gray skin was all Emily could think about. ”Hey,” Gabriel said, catching Emily’s attention. “I know I look a little weird, but..”

She laughed. “She’s friends with a gorilla. I’m used to weird.”  _ Good choice, Lena. _

“Dad, the shirt you’re wearing isn’t embarrassing! Good job,” Lena said, quickly drawing Emily’s attention away from Gabriel. 

Jack pulled at his shirt, a simple one with a green turtle over an ocean-blue background. Gabriel had helped him dress in a way that wasn’t humiliating. In fact, he did that almost every day now. It was better this way, and in all honesty, it was the least Gabriel could do. “Thanks. Picked it out myself.”

Gabriel was absolutely not going to let Jack lie about that. “No, he didn’t.”

Lena cocked her head to the side. “Gabe, do you pick out Jack’s clothes?”

“No-“

“Yes, I do. And they’re much better now.” He patted Jack’s head, who glared at him, seemingly not appreciating Lena and Emily’s laughter. “It’s fine, he won’t be wearing them too much if I have a say in it.” He saw Emily cringe a bit, and realized that old man sex was probably not something she wanted to think about.

“You won’t if you keep talking like that,” Jack said. Oh no. Abort.

“Aw, come on babe, don’t be like that.”

Emily tugged on Lena’s arm. “Um, this banter is funny and all, but I think you misread the boarding time.”

“Huh? Don’t be daft, there’s no way I—Oh.” Lena grinned, scratching the side of her head. “So our flight leaves in--” She checked her phone—“5 minutes. You guys can run, right?”

And so, the group was forced to dash across the airport. No doubt the people in the building were confused and possibly disturbed by the group running through the terminal led by the stomping gorilla, and customers stepped very far out of their way. Well, at least it kept them from having to rummage through crowds. The monkey was good for something after all. They stopped at their gate just as the desk aide gave the final boarding call. Jack stopped, putting his hands on the desk. “Hi. We made it, right?”

The aide smiled. “Yes sir, and—” She stared at Winston.

“He’s got special accommodations.” That’s a word for it.

“Oh yes, that.” They must have prepared for this. It made sense. There was no way they would’ve gotten away with taking a talking gorilla to the plane if they didn’t warn them in advance. He probably wouldn’t even fit through the flight door.

The attendant guided Winston to a larger door than the one being taken by the rest of the passengers. Yep, he was right. “You’ll be going to a section in the back with more room for your, um…larger frame.” She forced a laugh. He couldn’t imagine how awkward and confusing this must be for her.

Gabriel whispered to Jack. “Good. Get him the fuck away from the rest of us.”

Jack shook his head. “We’re sitting there too.”

“God dammit.”

With Gabriel grumbling in the back, they were guided outside, taking an outside staircase to the plane. The attendant left quickly, as if embarrassed by what was in front of them. Gabriel quickly saw why.

“What kind of half-assed accommodations are these?”

Separate from the rest of the passengers, the group was forced to sit in a clumsily-added section in the back of the plane. Reminding him of the modification of the car last year, the spacing between the seats was far from even, and there were only two seats, one of which was massive enough for Winston’s body. And “seat” was used in a liberal sense – they were just flat surfaces to sit on; more like benches than airline seats. Anyone else had to stand. What kind of two-bit plane was this?

“So, who gets the other seat?” Jack said, and Gabriel got the sense that he and Jack were going to have to take one for the team.

Lena raised her hand. “I volunteer Emily!”

Jack turned to Gabriel. “Why can’t you be sweet like that?”

Tch. As if. “You have two legs that aren’t broken,  _ puto _ .”

Winston shook his head. “I have no idea how you date someone so unkind towards you.”

_ Don’t punch him. Ignore it. _

In the end, the seating arrangement involved Emily and Lena sharing the extra seat (at Emily’s request, which conveniently lead to the two of them huddling very close together).

Gabriel grinned and turned to Jack. “Can I sit on your lap then?”

“Being dead better have made you about 100 pounds lighter,” Jack grunted.

Hmph. “Can’t carry weight anymore,  _ anciano _ ?” Okay, that nickname was still fun, even if Jack actually knew what it meant now.

Eventually, he and Jack sat on the floor.

“Um, I really don’t think this is safe if we’re in an accident,” Winston said.

“Maybe we should’ve brought parachutes.” Emily bit her lip.

The flight attendant’s voice sounded over the intercom, giving an introduction to the safety instructions on the plane. Routine thing he forgot happened on passenger aircraft; he’d stayed on military flights for most of his adult life, so it was still a bit of a surprise.

“We should pay attention. This is important,” Winston chimed in.

Although he tried to restrain himself, Gabriel said, “Okay, Hall Monitor.”

Jack elbowed him in the stomach, making him recoil slightly. Gabriel glared at him, but he had already opened his mouth to speak again. “Maybe you should listen. You’ve committed enough felonies already,” Jack said.

He resented that. “Hey, it’s been a couple years since my last one.”

“I’m pretty sure most people don’t commit any at all,” Lena pointed out. She had him there.

“The law is a serious thing. I read through the original Babyloanian legal code once. It was an interesting read! Not scientific enough for me, though,” Winston said, chuckling.

“Better than Jack. He doesn’t read at all,” Gabriel said, snickering. 

“I read the paper all the time.” That wasn’t saying anything at all, and Gabriel was pretty sure it still wasn’t true.

Lena shook her head. “That doesn’t really count, Dad.”

“I know. I’m reading, not counting.” He grinned.

“I’m going to try to kill you again.”

—

And so, their vacation began. Things started out messy and disorganized, likely because they had let Lena plan the first day, and she seemed to want to do absolutely everything at once. She was quickly deposed as leader in favor of Jack.

In the afternoon of their first day, Lena asked to go to the beach. Of course. No Hawaii vacation was complete without that. Yet there was still a part of him that dreaded the prospect. What if the water aggravated the instability of his body? No, that wasn’t why he was worried. He couldn’t fully put his finger on what was bothering him.

_ Do it for Jack. Nice vacation. Nice vacation.  _ Although he attempted to coach himself this way as he stood next to the ocean, his body resisted. He clenched his fists, trying to push himself towards the water.

At that moment, he realized something. If he went and had fun with everyone now, he would be leaving all of his old life behind and fully assimilating back with his old friends. All of those years he had spent wanting revenge and hurting people...this would be the official moment where he’d have to give up all of it. Even though he felt as if he was ready to do that, a small part of him was still telling him that he needed to always have the option to go back. It was hard for him to let go completely.

Jack came up behind him. “Hey. Something wrong?” Damn it, how did he always know?

“It’s nothing,” Gabriel lied.

“Come on. What’s the matter?” That stubborn ass never gave up trying to help him. How annoying.

As he turned his gaze towards Jack, he noticed a single drop of sweat go down his abs. God, that was hot. He couldn’t keep himself from staring.

“You look so hot.”

He frowned. “Don’t change the subject. Although….” Uh oh. Jack sounded like he had an idea, and that was never a good sign. “Tell me or I’ll put my shirt back on.” He smirked at Gabriel.

“No!” He said, a bit too loudly. Jack started to reach towards their basket, the one with his shirt inside. “I’m scared, okay?” Betrayed by his libido again. Stupid sexy Morrison.

“Why?” Jack asked.

Gabriel was about to tell him that he was scared his body would react badly, but he knew that wasn’t the real reason, and as he stared into Jack’s eyes and saw the concern in them, he realized something: he couldn’t lie to him anymore. Sure, he could manage to keep it from him if he just didn’t ask, but when he directly wanted to know, and looked at him with those damn puppy-dog eyes? Guilt jabbed him in the stomach every time he started to lie, to the point that it was unbearable.

He took a breath. No other choice. “Going in with everyone and being part of the group. It’s hard, after everything. Like giving up what I used to care about. It doesn’t even make sense.” Being honest with his feelings...dear God, what happened to him?

Jack smiled. Damn, that was cute. He knew that some reassurance was coming; that would annoy him coming from everyone else, because he knew they didn’t really understand. Empty words just pissed him off more. But even if he didn’t, he knew Jack would be honest with him, which was something that other people weren’t brave enough to do. “Maybe it doesn’t. But feelings suck. I’ll help you out.”

Jack took his hand, guiding him towards the water. Keep walking. One step, two steps, three steps, one foot after the other.  _ They’ll reject you again. You should go back to being alone. You can’t turn back after this.  _ Ignore those thoughts. Focus on Jack’s hand. He hoped he wasn’t gripping it too tightly. 

“You got this.” Jack gave him a light push.

Taking the final step himself, he waded into the tidal pool. The waves lapped at his feet. Further. Moving forward, he kept going until the water reached his waist, then opened his eyes. The first thing that came into view was Lena and Emily bouncing a beach ball, laughing as the splash hit Lena’s face. Other people in the water were enjoying themselves in similar ways, splashing, diving, or just talking. Seeing everyone having fun was filling him with calm rather than resentment. Even he wasn’t too cool for paradise, he supposed.

“See? It’s not hard. Just loosen up,” Jack said. Yeah, as if it’s that simple. But Jack was always a simple man, wasn’t he? Everything with him was always easy. Make a decision, go with it, wait until later to regret it. No second thoughts or insecurity.  _ I have no idea how he does it. _

“Yeah, I guess.” He patted Jack on the back.

“Now you can stare at these all you want.” Grinning, he flexed his biceps.

“Don’t be a douchebag, Jack.” His words were harsh, but something other than muscles was making that warm feeling in his chest come back. When the time came, Jack was always so supportive, and the only one willing to be genuine with him. What a piece of work.

—

Gabriel and Jack lounged on a towel by the water, watching Lena and Emily swim. Every time Emily would make a joke, Lena would let out that raucous laugh of hers, which Emily seemed enamored with. So carefree. It reminded him of he and Jack when they were younger.

The towel was actually a bit cramped. Two large men have a bit of trouble fitting on one cloth. But all that did was push him and Jack closer together, which he definitely didn’t mind.

“Hey.” Jack caught his attention. “You’ve behaved yourself around Winston pretty well so far. Thanks for that.”

“Trust me, if it were for anyone but you, I would sure as hell not tolerate him,” Gabriel said. The monkey had already annoyed him multiple times. The worst was when he’d get excited about some stupid crap and start shouting in front of everyone. Gabriel got the sense that Emily and Jack didn’t like it, either, but they kept it to themselves. Imagine having that kind of restraint. He couldn’t relate.

“Thanks, I think.” He laughed. “Weird to say about a guy in his 50s, but I think you’ve grown up a lot.”

Hm. The things Jack said still managed to catch him off-guard sometimes. “Yeah, well, I guess I had to stop being moody eventually.”

“Yeah, you being bitchy all the time was getting annoying,” Jack said, grunting.

“Sorry for inconveniencing you with my suffering, Morrison.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “Alright, keep your My Chemical Romance lyrics to yourself.”

A brief lull in conversation occurred as the two of them lay together, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. With the sun bright on the horizon and the temperature not as oppressively hot as it was on the mainland, it really did feel like paradise here. Something he never would’ve appreciated a couple years ago. And it all started with the man next to him.

He leaned over and kissed Jack’s forehead. “You’re alright sometimes _ . _ ” Jack knew just as well as he did that was a high compliment for him.

In response, Jack pulled him in and kissed him. The feeling of Jack’s lips was always a thrill; the new scars that had formed over the years just gave him more to explore and understand. Every day of their new relationship he re-learned the details of Jack’s body, now feeling the other side by trailing his fingers from the small of his back up his spine. Jack put his hands on Gabriel’s hips.

Unfortunately, their romantic moment was cut short, as Lena spoke up. “Sorry to interrupt, loves, but me and Emily want to go back to the hotel. Can we get a key?”

“Oh. Sure.” Jack reached into his pocket and handed Lena a card.

“Thanks! I’ll let you get back to what you were doing.” She winked, and pulled Emily towards the lobby.

After they were gone, Jack grinned and moved his fingers along Gabriel’s stomach. “You know, we’re alone here now. Maybe we can get on the balcony and you’ll get what you wanted by the pool.”

Gabriel smirked. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” It wasn’t the strangest place they’d had sex, after all.

After an agonizing amount of time in the elevator, the two were on the balcony of their hotel room. Almost immediately after they got outside, Jack kissed him with enough force that it threatened to knock Gabriel over, and he started to fall backwards; luckily, there was a lounge chair nearby, which he sat down on, arms bringing Jack down with him. Tongue still in Gabriel’s mouth, Jack lowered himself onto the chair with him. Chest-to-chest, arms around each other, Jack’s shirt riding up slightly; fuck the beach, this was the real paradise.

Moving his lips downward, he nibbled on Jack’s neck with just the right intensity to leave a mark, but not too noticeable of one; the type that wouldn’t stand out too much, but would leave no question where it came from. Had to mark his territory, after all.

“Gabe…” Jack whispered. His breath picked up as he grinded against Gabriel. The two established a rhythm with the movement of their hips, and he felt a growing erection in Jack’s pants.

“You’re eager, huh?” He reached downwards and cupped Jack’s erection in his hands as Jack straddled his lap, eliciting a moan. “How much have you been thinking about this?” Teasing Jack was one of his favorite parts of sex with him, because he was always so responsive to it, no matter how often he did it.

Breathing even harder now, Jack pushed himself further into Gabriel’s hands, ravishing every movement of his fingers. “A lot. Don’t know if you could see me staring at you the entire way here.” Sweat dripped down his forehead as he struggled a bit to talk, pausing to moan softly in the middle of his sentence.

Gabriel moved his hands down to Jack’s pants and undid the button, then—

Then he barged in.

If Winston saw Jack’s surprise at the intrusion, he didn’t acknowledge it. All he said was, “Hey Jack, I need help. I’m on the phone with the airline and they said they need the ticket buyer to verify that there really is a gorilla coming onto the plane. As if we didn’t already do this on the way there! Ridiculous.” Somehow, Winston didn’t seem to notice the daggers Gabriel was glaring at him.

Straining his words a bit, Jack said, “Winston, I’m kind of busy right now—”

“No, this isn’t a prank, don’t hang up!” He gripped the phone tighter, as if that would somehow change anything. “Jack, this is becoming urgent.”

Jack sighed, buttoned his pants, then got up, to Gabriel’s horror. “Fine.” Not even entirely out of Winston’s line of sight, Jack grimaced towards Gabriel.

_ Did that monkey just cockblock me?! _

—

A rare moment where he was with Lena without Jack around. The two of them sat on the beach chairs next to each other. There was something he couldn’t get off his mind, and if there was anyone who could help, it was her.

“Hey, Lena?” She turned her head towards him. “How do I get Winston to stop starting fights with me? I’m trying to be nice, but he’s not letting up.”

She looked up at the sky, which was turning a light red as the sun set. “Gabe, let me ask you something.”

“Hm?”

“Dad forgave you because he loves you, and I did because I think people can change. But Winston isn’t always like that. I have to ask, if you were in his shoes, would you forgive yourself? The guy that did all those nasty things to people?”

He thought for a moment, recalling a man on the UN that nearly got Jack’s mother attacked when he didn’t give his country preferential treatment; Gabriel had quickly given him a piece of his mind, and he ‘mysteriously’ stayed away from Overwatch afterwards. No, if that guy had claimed to change, he would definitely never forgive him. No matter what he did to prove it. Because he did something terrible to someone he cared a lot about.

Just like Gabriel did.

“No. Probably not.” He sighed.

She shook her head. “Now don’t get all mopey. That doesn’t mean you should beat yourself up. But you have to face your mistakes, y’know?” She smiled. “Trust me, I wish I could undo things too.”

He suspected she was getting down on herself about Mondatta again. “If it means anything, you’ve made way less mistakes than I have.” She hadn’t caused nearly as many international incidents as he had, that was certain.

“That counts as getting mopey, love.” She frowned. “I just want to help people, and when I got a chance, I couldn’t do it.”

“You’re like Jack, then.” Many of the things Jack had said during his low moments came to mind. “He always wants to be the hero. Wants to be the strongest one that saves everyone, like Superman or something.” He laughed. “That’s just how he is. Sometimes I wish I could be more like him, honestly.” His expression darkened. “Jack has so much love in him, and the world has stepped on it over and over. It’s disgusting.” Some of the unpleasant feelings from the Reaper days threatened to come back during times like this. Truth be told, even though he didn’t want to hurt people anymore, the anger wasn’t completely gone. Nowadays, though, some of the anger was towards what happened to Jack, rather than what happened to solely himself. All Jack wanted was to help people, and everyone took advantage of that and hurt him. So much of his old brightness was gone. Horrible.

Interrupting this dark train of thought, Lena put her hand on his shoulder. “Hey, he gets back up every time, right?”

“True. That stubborn ass.” Of course, Jack’s stubbornness was what lead to him not giving up on Gabriel, so he was still grateful for it.

A memory resurfaced. Back when Overwatch was still in full swing. Gabriel had just fucked up (again) and gotten into a fight with several of the agents. He was angry, but more than that, he was more hurt than he expected. All he ever did was fuck everything up. A lot of them wanted him fired. Or at least, that’s how he perceived it.

After he came home, Jack could clearly tell something was wrong. Product of loving someone, he guessed. As much as he tried to hide it, he eventually hugged Jack, and told him that maybe they were right, and he should be fired. There was one sentence Jack said then, that would always stick in his mind, years later:

“I’ll never give up on you, Gabe.”

Back to reality. He wasn’t even sure how much time had passed while he was thinking. All he knew was that Lena had taken her hand off his shoulder, and was back to laying on the chair, hands behind her head.

“I can tell you love Dad a lot.” She smiled. “He loves you, too. He told me he worries about you sometimes. Isn’t that sweet?”

The darkness in his expression, and by extension, in his mind, slowly faded. “Yeah. Pretty sweet.” As he closed his eyes, his smile returned. “He’s OK, I guess.”

“Bah! Men never know how to compliment each other,” she said, groaning.

“Imagine two soldiers together. There’s a reason we’re always rude to each other.” He laughed.

“You know, I think that’s just how you two show you love each other. We all do it in our own way, right?” That was certainly one way to think about it…

“I guess. I bet anyone watching thinks we hate each other.” Many people had thought that for a long time, after all.

She raised an eyebrow. “Anyone who doesn’t see you two making out on the beach.”

Well, she had him there. “By the way, thank you for going away when you saw that.” She’d be a great wingman.

“I know exactly what you were about to do.” She winked. “Just don’t do it in front of too many people.”

“No promises.”

The two laughed. He hadn’t had a friend other than Jack in a long time, really. Something about it felt foreign at this point.  _ How socially stunted was I? _

Maybe he’d start talking to her more often.

—

On the final day of their vacation, Gabriel noticed that Jack seemed to be bothered by something. As the morning progressed, he was fidgeting quite a bit, and brushing his foot against the ground – one of the telltale signs he was nervous. The things you pick up on when you know someone for so long. Curiosity gnawed at him, but he knew if he asked, Jack would (poorly) try to act like he was just imagining things.

In the early afternoon, Jack asked to take a walk with him on a beach about a quarter mile from their hotel. On the way, he admired the sights of Hawaii even off the beach, enjoying the lush greenery and palm trees. Jack seemed unusually quiet.  _ Is he gonna tell me he’s dying or something?  _ After they reached the beach itself, he pulled on Gabriel’s arm, directing him towards the ocean. As they moved, he saw a dock with a few boats, with a blue sign that said “TOURS: $20.00” on it.

“We’re not bringing the others?” Gabriel asked.

Jack shook his head. “Kinda always wanted a date on the water. Heh.” He blushed a bit.

“Wow, you really are a teenager.” Gabriel snickered. “Maybe we should go to a drive-in movie next.” Old man probably went to those. Even though Gabriel was actually older than him.

Ignoring him, Jack paid the man on the dock, who seemed a bit startled by them; as Gabriel looked around, he realized most of the people on this tour were couples. Oh. That’s why.

Surprised or not, the man gave them a key. The boats automatically set out on their own course, and did not need to be driven, meaning the ride was just the two of them. He was sure some dumb people still got themselves lost with it anyway.

“Hey.” Jack said, after there was a bit of distance between them and the dock. His foot brushed against the ground again, faster than before. It made a soft grating sound against the surface of the boat, and with the speed he was going, it almost seemed like he was trying to wear a hole in the boat. Gabriel turned his head.

“So. Just want you to know that I love you. A lot.” He shook his head. “No, that’s not…dammit, I’m bad at this. Wanna say I’m  _ in  _ love with you.”

Huh? “Where is this coming from? Are you dying or some shit?” That was always a paranoia he had; Jack wasn’t getting any younger, and he knew that someday he would get sick. It was a bit early to worry too much about it, but the possibility was always at the back of his mind.

Jack shook his head. “Just want to be honest, while I still can. After everything that happened, thought I’d lost you forever or at least we would just be friends if we made up, but I feel just like I used to. Even though you’re not the same as you were before. Does that make sense? I-“

Gabriel cut him off with a kiss, which quickly stopped his squirming. The nervous motions he was making paused as he responded by putting his hands behind Gabriel’s head. Continuing the kiss, their hands met near Jack’s waist, as Gabriel pulled him closer.

After their lips separated, they still held onto each other, touching their foreheads together. Backing his head up a bit, Gabriel said, “Is that what you were nervous about?”

“Heh. Guess I was just scared you weren’t serious about it,” Jack said, chuckling.

“Don’t worry all the time, stupid.” Gabriel gave him a kiss on the forehead. 

The truth was, his feelings were just as strong as Jack’s, but it would always be something he had trouble expressing. Jack wasn’t his perfect angel, like he had thought when they were young. That way of thinking was probably what caused all of the heartbreak in the first place. He could never live up to that standard – he was imperfect. But Jack was also kind, funny, caring, passionate, and cute (and incredibly sexy). In just the past year, he felt like he’d gotten to know Jack better than ever before, as neither of them needed to impress anyone anymore. All pretenses were gone. And without the glamour and glory and secrecy, he had fallen just as far in love with Jack as before. This was him at his most raw and real, and he was still a ray of sunshine. In his own way.

The two separated from the hold, simply sitting next to each other and holding hands. This was nice. The feeling of Jack next to him and the slow rocking of the boat filled him with a relaxation that he didn’t get often. Staring over the horizon and across the water, Gabriel saw a group of seals on an inlet in the distance, just close enough that he could tell that several of them were sleeping next to each other.

“Aw. Just like us,” Jack said. Ugh, corny old man.

“If we gained about 400 pounds, I guess,” Gabriel grunted.

“Don’t ruin it.” Despite this, Jack leaned in and rested his head on Gabriel’s shoulder.

Just as he said that, two of the seals opened their eyes, and one started moving closer until it mounted the other one.

“Oh, God.”

That gave Gabriel an idea. He smirked. “You want to do something like that, too?”

Jack grinned. “Don’t have any lube, so no anal, but we do have another hour.”

“I like the way you think.” Even without anal, Jack still had a magic tongue.

Okay, so  _ that  _ might have been the weirdest place they had sex. 

—

Their vacation came to an end. He’d miss Hawaii. Not just because it was nice, but because he genuinely had a fun time with everyone. Unlike their last vacation, his interactions with Jack and Lena here felt very natural (the ones with Winston only felt naturally unpleasant, but one thing at a time, he supposed). He had almost forgotten what it was like to have more than one friend at once. Or any friends at all. Oh, and the little romantic moments with Jack were definitely worth his time, too. Turns out, you’re never too old or too cool for kissing under the Hawaiian sunset. 

The plane ride back wasn’t completely insufferable. While Winston still was very willing to criticize Gabriel, every time he did, Gabriel just recalled his conversation with Lena and tried to give him a break. Well, ‘giving him a break’ meant ‘not punching him in the face’, but it was still something. There probably was no way to mend that relationship, at least not for many years; fighting it was futile and would only cause stress for both himself and those around him. And if there was one thing he didn’t want on their paradise vacation, it was for it to be invaded by stress. He’d sure as hell had enough of that over the course of his life.

After they landed, Lena, Emily, and Winston followed them out the door (baggage claim was pretty damn chaotic with so many people; he hated passenger aircraft). Their car was in a different parking lot, though, so it was time to say their goodbyes. “Alright, bye Lena. Call me when you get back to Britain, okay?” Jack said. “Just wanna make sure you two get home safe.”

“I’m not 10, Dad.” She rolled her eyes. “I’ll call anyway, though. And when I do, you should let me talk to Gabe!”

“Sure. But if he says anything rude to you I’ll make him pay,” Jack warned.

Gabriel rested his arm on Jack’s shoulder. “By doing what?”

“Making you pay rent.”

While Gabriel was preparing a comeback for that one, Lena turned towards him. “Take care of yourself, okay? And remember that we care about you, love.” She smiled, looking like she was glowing. Ugh, was he  _ proud  _ of her? He was spending too much time with Jack. If he wasn’t careful, he’d become ‘Dad’ too.

Emily reached over and hugged all three of the men, one-by-one. “This was so fun.” She smiled. “We need to do something like this again sometime.” Emily seemed to not be finished, but Lena started pulling her away. Did she ever sit still?

“Bye Dad! Bye Gabe! Love you guys!” She waved, and Emily did as well.

“It was a pleasure, Jack.” Winston said, shaking his hand. “You too, Gabe.” He said, turning around without shaking his hand as well. At least it wasn’t an insult, he guessed. He and Jack waved to all three of them, then started on their way to their car.

Jack put his hands behind his head. “Excited to go back home and lay on our bed.”

“That thing is better than those fancy as fuck hotel beds?” Their hotel had been four stars. There was no comparing to that, if he was honest. If there was one thing he  _ did  _ miss about international diplomacy, it was the nice hotels. Those beds were great, even back in the day. The problem was that he’d have to get out of them.

“Don’t you go sassing our house, now. It’s good because it’s home,” Jack said.

“That was really corny, Jack.” This damn sappy old man.

“Ah, quiet down.” As they walked to the car, Jack put his arm around Gabriel.

“ _ Te amo _ .” Gabriel whispered in his ear, almost as if he was hoping that he wouldn’t hear it. God, saying that was hard, but he knew that one day it might be too late. Jack had been right; they might not last forever.

“That’s the one that means a lot, right?” Jack asked.

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Don’t tell me you lost the Spanish I taught you, gringo.”

Jack kissed the side of his head. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Reflecting for a moment, Gabriel realized something: Jack and Lena were his family now. He had never thought of himself as a family man, but there was a certain pleasure and security in having someone to take care of that would also always have your back. Maybe not everyone would like him. In fact, most people probably wouldn’t. But what he did have was something special. He needed to not forget that again.

And so, he and Jack made it to the car, and were on their way to their quiet home. 

This was  _ way  _ better than killing people.


	11. April, Year 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> note: the f slur is used at one point in this chapter. only once, though.

“You sure about this?” Gabriel asked into the phone; he could feel himself trembling. He may be a confident man, but this kind of thing was something he was pretty far from good at. 

“Positive,” Lena said. “He’s been waiting for it for years, love. Trust me!”

Gabriel sighed. “Alright. Gonna try not to throw up on the way,” Gabriel said, grimacing. He hung up. He felt like his stomach was going to drop out of his body entirely. As he looked down at the ring box in his hand, he tried to control his breathing. All of the war and terrorism he’d done, and somehow this was the most terrifying thing he’d ever approached. 

Okay. Already in too deep. Can’t quit now. 

Gabriel opened the back door of their house. The Spring sunlight beat down on him. The weather was perfect for the occasion. It felt like some sort of Hallmark movie, as if life was mocking him for becoming such a sap. He made his way to the couch where they had sex for the first time. Where Jack was waiting. His breath picked up, reminding him of when he used to be so terrified of being outside at all. Except this time, the reason he was nervous wasn’t something atrocious. Well, being emotional in front of others was pretty awful in itself, too.

On his way to their little clearing, a part of Gabriel was screaming at him to turn back and run away. Although marriage was something he was looking forward to as well, he knew these types of traditions were incredibly important to Jack, and being married with a family was always his dream. Fucking old man. He had to do this right, make this moment special. It was certainly one Jack would remember, so if he fucked up now, he’d never hear the end of it. Or worse, Jack would say no. He didn’t even want to imagine that possibility.

Gabriel got to the couch much more quickly than he wanted to. He saw Jack sitting in the center; Jack turned towards him, giving him a curious look. OK. Don’t have a panic attack now. That would be a really piss poor memory.

Without saying anything, Gabriel sat down on the couch next to Jack, feeling sweat drip down his forehead. God, this was such a stupid idea, he couldn’t believe he let that girl talk him into this--

“Hey,” Jack said, cutting off his racing thoughts. The bright sunlight illuminated Jack’s face. God, he looked great, no matter his age or the scars he had. “You OK?” Gabriel turned towards him, but his mouth felt too dry to speak. “You know, if you want to fuck here again, you can just ask.” He smirked at Gabriel. In any other circumstance, he would gladly take him up on that. Jack knew him so well…

He tried to return his smirk, but he couldn’t manage to give any expression other than a terrified one. Think of a joke. Brush this off. Do something. “Marry me,” he blurted out. _ No! God fucking dammit! _

Jack recoiled a bit. “Hell ye--”

“No, don’t say anything!” Gabriel shouted. It was too late for damage control, but damn well was he gonna try. “OK. Let me do this again.” He took a deep breath. Jack gave him a bewildered look. “Jack, I know I don’t say it enough, but I love you so much.” He lifted the ring box and opened it. Just as things were going better, Gabriel realized that he’d completely forgotten the rest of his mini-speech. “Um, just gimme a minute--”

“Gabe.” Jack held his hand. “Yes. Fuck yes.” Gabriel was still frozen in place as Jack took the ring out of the box and put it on his finger. “Fits nice.” Tears started to well up in Jack’s eyes.

Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God.” Even though he fucked up and humiliated himself, at least Jack still said yes. 

As Gabriel tried to get his bearings and process what happened, Jack reached over and kissed him, pushing his tongue deep into Gabriel’s mouth. Well, he was definitely okay with this part. Gabriel reciprocated, pulling Jack in as close as he could.

After what didn’t feel like nearly long enough, Jack pulled away. He would’ve been happy to keep going, but fine. Jack reached his arm around Gabriel, giving him a huge smile. “Love you, Mr. Morrison.”

Gabriel paused. “Oh, we’re taking your last name now? What if I like mine better?”

Jack stared at him. “You really think I’d get away with changing the name of the farm?” When Gabriel opened his mouth to argue again, Jack put his finger on Gabriel’s lips. “We’ll figure something out.” 

Instead of arguing (for once), Gabriel leaned into Jack’s hold, enjoying Jack’s touch. His hands were so soft, and his body was always so warm. The Sun didn’t have shit on Jack’s body heat.

God, if he started verbalizing cheesy shit like that in married life, he hoped God would strike him down.

\--

After cuddling for a while, the two of them made their way back to the house. Jack started calling just about everyone he knew, rambling to them about how excited he was like some teenage girl. The world had taken away Jack’s chance for a family in his youth, but Gabriel would do everything in his power to give him one now. 

Jack got off the phone with at least the fifth person he’d called. “Just got off the phone with Mama,” Jack said. He had told his parents that he was alive last year (and forced Gabriel to come visit them, which was absolute torture), and since then, he told his mother just about everything. Jack had always been a mama’s boy. He probably missed her so much when they were apart. Gabriel didn’t like thinking about those years. “Said she’ll come down from Heaven and haunt us if change the name of the farm after she dies.” Jack laughed, but Gabriel made a mental note to listen to her. He didn’t fuck with that ‘angry ghost’ shit.

Jack smile faded a bit after a moment, though. “Speaking of that...yesterday, my therapist said there’s something else I should face. Want you to be there with me. Please?”

He didn’t understand why Jack would even doubt his response. “Yeah. Told you, I’ve always got your back.”

“It’s in Indiana.”

“Fuck.”

_ The next day _

Following a drive that felt eons too long and a visit with Jack’s parents, Jack walked with him to a place in Bloomington that Gabriel had never been to before. It turned out that Bloomington was an actual city, but Jack _ had _to live in the boring part. Jack took him to a small church near the very west end of town. He took a deep breath.

“A church? You sure I won’t start burning?” Gabriel asked, trying to lighten the mood. Jack didn’t laugh. Oh shit, this must be serious.

Jack walked inside, and he followed. At this time of day, it was empty. The church didn’t look particularly different from an average one, with rows of seats and a stand where the priest would give sermons. There was a small statue of the Virgin Mary near the center. It would be quaint if he didn’t have a feeling Jack had some trauma associated with it.

Jack walked around the church, taking closer looks at spots that Gabriel assumed had some kind of symbolic meaning to him. Gabriel wasn’t even Catholic, so he had no idea what was going on. Still, Jack seemed afraid, so Gabriel came behind him and put his hand on his shoulder. Jack turned around and smiled at him. 

Apparently the church wasn’t completely empty, because an old man in a robe came out of a room in the back. He had to be at least in his 80s. Jack tensed the second he saw the man. Oh, this guy must be trouble.

“I’d recognize that face anywhere,” the man started. His voice was booming; the kind suited for someone who gave speeches. “John Morrison?”

Jack looked away. “Yeah, Father. It’s me.” Well, Jack certainly didn’t mean his actual father, so this must be a pastor. 

“Who is this old guy?” Gabriel whispered to Jack.

“He was my pastor when I was growing up,” Jack whispered back. “Father Paul.” Jack seemed to cringe when he said the name.

Paul noticed Gabriel, and paused for a moment. He shook his head. “I knew you were interested in sin, John, but this creature must be a demon.” What the fuck did this asshole just say? “I am not surprised, but still disappointed.”

“Excuse you?” Gabriel glared at him.

Jack put his hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. “Let it go, Gabe.” He stared at the pastor. “Father, I’m an adult. I can make my own decisions.” If Jack weren’t here, this man would probably be dead by now.

The Father moved closer to Jack. “After I worked so hard to eliminate the devil from you?”

Jack stepped forward as well. His voice lowered. “I’m not scared of you anymore.”

“You are a Catholic, John!” The pastor said, raising his voice. That booming voice taking on an angry tone might have been intimidating if he didn’t look like he was going to keel over and die of old age. “These choices are not the Lord’s will. I just want to keep you out of Hell.”

Gabriel started to step in between them. “Jack, do you want me to-“

The Father continued. “I knew you were a sodomite, John, but this thing is a demon himself.”

Jack clenched his fists. “Shut up.”

“You have fallen back to the path of evil. Everyone will be so disappointed when I tell them.” The pastor shook his head.

“I…” Jack looked at the ground.

Gabriel had heard enough. “Hey. Father whatever. You’re going to turn around and walk away, because I’m not nearly as nice as Jack is, and if you don’t, you’ll be meeting the Lord in person in a few minutes.”

The pastor sighed. Oh, that pissed him the fuck off. “What a horrible demon you are. This hurts me, deeply.”

“That’s exactly what he says when my dick is up his ass.” Gabriel started to walk towards him.

“That is-“ Gabriel cut him off by smashing his fist into the man’s face. Unprepared for the strength for a super soldier, he was knocked back, and clearly had lost at least one tooth.

Jack grabbed Gabriel’s arm. “We need to get out of here.”

“Fine. He’s lucky I didn’t kill him,” Gabriel said. Honestly, he was still considering it.

Jack led him out of the church; the man had still not gotten up, so Gabriel assumed he must be unconscious. If only he was dead. They rushed back to the car; maybe he’d enjoy this kind of thrill if he wasn’t so pissed off.

When they reached the car, they both quickly closed their doors. “What the hell was with that guy, Jack?” Gabriel asked, still full of adrenaline.

Jack stared at his lap. “He was my pastor when I was younger. Didn’t like that I was gay.” His voice went quiet. “Would tell my parents that he just wanted to help me because he thought I seemed sad. Then when we were alone, he would call me a disgusting sinner and tell me I had to keep my desires to myself. Turned the church group against me and told all of them that I’m gay, and they would call me a faggot and laugh at me when I cried.” Holy shit. No wonder Jack was nervous. If he could find them, he’d beat up every one of those assholes. “Didn’t tell anyone cause I knew they wouldn’t believe me.” He started to tear up. “I couldn’t even stand up to him now. I’m a soldier, and he’s easily in his 80s. But he just brought me back to being a kid and being scared.” He was crying now. “I’m so pathetic, Gabe. I was such a pussy. So pissed at myself.”

Gabriel rubbed Jack’s shoulder. “Don’t be sorry. We can’t win every fight. If I’d have known that I would’ve killed the fucker on the spot.” Jack laughed softly. Gabriel touched his forehead to Jack’s. “Jack, you’re one of the toughest guys I know. You’ve kicked asses of people that are way scarier than him. You not being able to stand up to one guy doesn’t change that.” He took a breath. “And anytime you can’t beat someone, I can stand up for you.” Gabriel was caught off guard when Jack reached over and hugged him. He patted Jack on the back.

“Thanks.” Jack wiped his eyes. “Think I feel a little better now that I faced it, though. And that I got to see him get knocked on his ass. That was fucking awesome.”

Gabriel gave him a cocky smirk. “I do my best.” He couldn’t deny that getting complimented by Jack still filled him with pride. “Comforting people isn’t something I’m that good at, but I’ve always got your back.”

Jack smiled at him. “Thanks. You’re the best.” He started the car. “Can’t wait for our wedding.”

Gabriel leaned back in his seat. “Yeah. Gonna be pretty cool.”

And they were _ not _going to invite the fucking monkey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading everyone! i love all of you that have given my kudos and comments, you're the best <3 i had a ton of fun writing this.


End file.
